Amakhosi midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala has been praised by Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for his hard work and dedication which has seen the Chiefs left winger become a regular feature and an important component in the South Africa starting eleven.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday evening ahead of Bafana's second group game against Uruguay on Wednesday at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria (Tshwane), Parreira told journalists that Tshabalala was making the most of the opportunity that has been afforded to him and is showing the world just what he is capable of with his riveting performance against Mexico.

"Tshabalala is having the moment of his life" said Parreira glowingly of the dreadlocked midfielder before going on to laude further plaudits on Tshabalala for the tremendous work he put in during South Africa's pre World Cup camps in Brazil, Germany and in South Africa.

"He worked very hard during the preparation time and never missed a training session for the last three months, he plays like a Brazilian, the way he is playing right now he deserves to be playing that way".

According to Parreira the stats are there to prove that Tshabalala who scored South Africa's only goal during their 1-1 draw against Mexico in the tournament opener on Friday is working tirelessly to help South Africa's cause. "He is one of the fittest players in the tournament and he ran something like 13km's during the opening game against Mexico".

The Brazilian mentor was also complimentary of Itumeleng Khune and his ability to deal easily with all kinds of situations.

"Khune is calm just like his coach" joked Parreira.

He then said of the Chiefs goalkeeper. "He is calm and never scared of the crowd whether it is and empty stadium or a crowd of 80 000, technically he is a very good goalkeeper".