The fact that Zakhele Lepasa did not play a single minute of competitive football last season does not faze coach of South Africa's CHAN squad, Molefi Ntseki.
Lepasa was named by Ntseki in the national team to take part at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and got some valuable minutes in a practice match against Angola at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday morning, a game which ended 1-1.
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He spent the whole of last season on the sidelines, recovering from an injury which denied him an opportunity to fight for his place at Orlando Pirates.
The striker was officially released by Soweto giants Pirates last week, ending a long relationship with the club, having come through the development. As a free agent, Lepasa has an opportunity to get minutes at CHAN and put himself on the
"What we did is that we got a physical profile and technical profile of the players we have here and we were also given a a go-ahead from physicians to say he is at a level where he can always build on him," Ntseki told media at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday.
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"Lepasa's strength is scoring goals, so if you go into a tournament and you have 70 percent of Zakhele Lepasa and you give him 45 or 60 minutes, you are likely to get a goal out of him. Going into this tournament, we are fully aware that we might be struggling to get a strikers to help us. Zakhele was available and we are happy with his medical report."
South Africa are in Group C at CHAN, with Algeria, Guinea, Niger and Uganda.
