Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos will have a big decision to make on which goalkeepers will join Ronwen Williams in the AFCON squad, following the emergence of Orlando Pirates shot-stopper Melusi Buthelezi.
Following the last Bafana squad announcement, goalkeepers Veli Mothwa and Ricardo Goss, looked set to retain their places in the Africa Cup of Nations squad as back-ups to number one shot-stopper Williams after being included in the World Cup qualifiers roster.
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At the time, other potential candidates such as Sipho Chaine had just got injured and the likes of Brandon Petersen and Itumeleng Khune were not doing well.
However, Buthelezi has raised his hand since then after he replaced the injured Chaine and has kept five consecutive clean-sheets for the Buccaneers following their win against his former club TS Galaxy and took his tally to six clean-sheets in eight league matches.
The former TS Galaxy goalkeeper has been with Bafana setup even during his time at the Rockets and his form will give national team head coach Hugo Broos a big headache.
In comparison to his Bafana rivals, Goss has only kept four clean-sheets in 12 league games while Mothwa has not been scored in six out of his 12 league matches.
Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says he's not obsessed with keeping clean-sheets but he's happy for Buthelezi and the goalkeeping department, who work hard to shut teams out.
"To be honest it's not an obsession. I'm happy because there's people in the staff who are working hard to make it possible, I'm happy for them, the players and the goalkeepers," Riveiro told reporters in a press conference.
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"Everything counts, we want to be a competitive team in every scenario, not conceding is key but I try to celebrate overall, my mind didn't go immediately to again we didn't concede.
"But it's important for Buthelezi, he's making his first games for Orlando Pirates, a clean-sheet again in terms of confidence is very important for our centre-backs," he said.
"It has importance but I like to celebrate more the 3-0s, the 3-1s, the 4-1s, you understand," he added.
Pirates next game is away to Golden Arrows in the DStv Premiership on Sunday afternoon.
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