The squad announcement was made on Wednesday in Johannesburg, and Mkhonza has moved quickly to clear up some confusion around the team.
“We should quickly indicate that we have the top 18 players, but this does not make it the final squad,” he says.
“Players placed on the list from 19 to 35 are reserves in the event of injury or illness. As the technical team, our challenge now is to ensure that the top 18 does not become complacent because they have made the cut.
“We will expect them to continue in the manner they have been preparing as the job is not done yet; in fact, it is just starting.”
Mkhonza adds: “This has been the most difficult period for the technical team. Going through all the names and coming up with the 18 players was very hard, but something had to be done.
“But I need to emphasise that this is not the final squad as Sascoc will only announce the final Team South Africa squad on the 4th of July. So there could be some changes. I will still have players on standby in case any of the 18 sustain injuries as we build up to the Olympics.
“At the moment we are closely monitoring the players that sustained injuries in the previous camps and have given them a recovery period.”
Banyana will assemble for camp on Monday in preparation for the AWC return leg qualifier against Zambia to be played at the Kanyamazane Stadium in Nelspruit on June 16.
The qualifier will be followed by a return-leg international friendly match against Nigeria to be played in Lagos on June 23.
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