Benni in and Pienaar out for South Africa

There was a boost and a blow for South Africa ahead of a friendly against Cameroon here Wednesday with Benni McCarthy available to play and injured Steven Pienaar ruled out.

Blackburn striker McCarthy attended the funeral of his father in Cape Town last Saturday and Bafana Bafana (The Boys) coach Brazilian Joel Santana said there was no pressure on the leading national team scorer to line up.

“We understand what a loss Benni has suffered and would have understood if he decided not to play. He has shown his commitment to Bafana and we are delighted,” said team manager Sipho Nkumane.

Everton have angered South African football officials by keeping midfielder Pienaar in Liverpool instead of following international procedure and allowing Bafana medical staff to check his injury.

The countries will compete for the Nelson Mandela Challenge trophy in this north-west town with South Africa trying to avoid a hat-trick of losses in the annual match after going down to Egypt and the United States.