EXCLUSIVE: Siyanda Xulu "disappointed" at being over-looked for Bafana's defeat against Nigeria - in his home town

On top of his game: Siyanda Xulu is on
on top of the world with Rostov in Russia

Gallo Images

SIYANDA XULU has expressed disappointment and frustration after being over-looked for South Africa’s disappointing 2-0 defeat against Nigeria in his hometown on Wednesday.

Just a fortnight ago, former Mamelodi Sundowns defender Xulu marked the world’s best player, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, out of the game when his underdogs Rostov beat billionaire Suleyman Kerimov’s Anzhi  Makhachkala 1-0.

Even that wasn’t enough to earn a call from SAFA but the 21-year-old from KwaMashu insists: “I hope to be back in Gordon Igesund’s thinking for the final World Cup qualifier against Botswana on September 7 at the Moses Mabhida.”

Xulu, speaking on my football show BOLLOCKZ on www.ballz.co.za yesterday morning, told me: “Nobody from Bafana made any contact. I was very disappointed, we were top of the Russian League. I’m doing very well for my club, we are winning, I am playing. Of course I was disappointed.

“I’m a KwaMashu boy, I always miss home, you always do. I wanted to come home and play in this game in Durban.

“I didn’t get to see the Nigeria defeat because they didn’t show it in Russia but I got to hear from my parents and some friends. They told me. Bafana didn’t have much of a good game I hear, especially when we were the ones playing a home, near where I grew up. We always like to beat Nigeria.

“At Rostov were are on the same points as No1, we have played four, won three, drawn one. We have made a good start.

“The best was beating Anzhi Makhachkala, the richest club in Russia – they were the runners-up here in the league last season. We played very well, we didn’t concede a goal, we won 1-0. It was very hard. We managed!

“I marked Samuel Eto’o, the best-paid striker in the world. It was quite difficult! He was kept quiet (laughs), he tried, you could see in his face he was frustrated, he wanted a goal. But I was trying my best to keep him quiet.

“Playing at Rostov has taught me a lot. I have come here to achieve a lot. In South Africa we don’t have the concrete development structures they have in Russia. Obviously you have to work hard, we match them skill-wise but technically it’s much quicker than South African football.

“My team Rostov is doing very well, it means a lot Neal, as a player you always want to do well, financially and on the pitch.

“I think if you have a chance to play in Europe, your South African team should let you go. It’s good for our nation and it’s good for Bafana.

“It was very frustrating when I tried to leave. At first I went to Barcelona, I was going to go but the president left. They were impressed, Atletico Madrid then offered me a contract and Mamelodi Sundowns said it wasn’t good enough.

“When I had the opportunity to go to Russia, they did it again, but I got here in the end. I don't understand why South African clubs make it so difficut.

“I think any young South Africa with a chance to go overseas should take it. It’s hard, you miss home, but it’s worth it. You become a better player.

“I hope I get to prove that against Botswana next month.”

BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 10am-noon. See my Siyanda Xulu interview below - and further videos on the Ballz site, where I talk to Shakes Khunwane, THE MOLE and Oluwashina Okeleji of the BBC World Service about Bafana's abject defeat against Nigeria.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za. A shorter version of THIS story will be published in The New Age on Tuesday.

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