Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates defender Innocent Maela has spoken about a discussion he had with Percy Tau on their way to Rabat to face Morocco.
Maela, who is not 100 percent fit, but is hoping to be available for Thursday’s AFCON qualifier, is in contention for the left-back role with Lyle Lakay, after Terrence Mashego was forced to withdraw from the squad.
The pair spent a lot of time talking when they were on their second flight, which was a duration of seven hours, having both lost the CAF Confederation Cup and CAF Champions League respectively.
“We were talking about our experiences in club football, he was telling me about the final and how bad it was for him not to win because he wanted to create a little bit of history for himself and I also told him about our final,” said Maela via the national team’s media department.
“Apart from that we were just talking and discussing our personal lives. I was asking about his family back home, life in Egypt and he was asking me about how life is in Joburg. I didn’t tell him anything (laughs).
“I was just listening to his life because his life is more interesting I believe. We were just chatting and he is from my hometown by the way, from Witbank, so we had seven hours to catch up which is always good. Maybe that’s why we didn’t sleep on the second flight.”
Maela was able to travel despite having a slight abductor problem, but confirms that ever since he got there his treatment has been good, adlso that the coach has been cautious and managing his load.
