Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Siyabonga Ngezana will start his UEFA Europa League Conference journey towards the end of this month with his new club FCSB.
In a recent interview with his new Romanian club, Ngezana said he chose FCSB over Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova mainly because they play in UEFA tournaments and his dream of playing at a big stage will begin on 27 July when they take on Bulgarian side CSKA 1948 Sofia in the first-leg of the Europa Conference League, second-round qualifier.
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However, the road to the group stages of the Conference League is quite daunting, despite entering the tournament in the second round.
To reach the coveted group stages, FCSB will have to reach the third round qualifiers by overcoming CSKA over two legs, where 64 teams will be involved.
And after the third qualifying round comes the final play-off round, where 44 teams are involved, including teams eliminated from the UEFA Europa League qualifying round, with two paths to reaching the group stages, where 22 teams will qualify and 10 teams will join them from the Europa League play-offs.
In the end, there will be 32 teams that will reach the group stage proper, with the draw set for 1 September.
Meanwhile, Ngezana also sees the opportunity to play in Europe as a stepping stone to establishing himself at Bafana Bafana.
"I will make sure I stay longer abroad. I want to use this move as a stepping stone to even better opportunities. I also have Bafana in my mind, I want to break into the team."
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has shown more willingness to give players playing abroad a chance in his team, with the likes of Siyanda Xulu, who was overlooked while playing in the PSL, becoming a regular after getting a chance to play overseas, where he was in Israel before switching to Azerbaijan.
Other overseas-based players given a chance in the Bafana squad that were previously overlooked include Luke Le Roux (Sweden), Mihlali Mayambela (Cyprus), Sphephelo Sithole (Portugal), Thibang Phethe (Portugal, UAE until recently).
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