Editor's Column - Clint Roper

So, on the weekend, our thrown together team of Bafana Bafana players travelled to Mauritius for a second leg match in an attempt to qualify for the CHAN tournament, which is held in January next year. The win never looked in doubt and we were well worth the two goals that sank the islanders and gave us a 5-0 aggregate win. In truth it should have been by a lot more and I'm not sure whether celebrating mediocrity is the right thing to do when it comes to Bafana. All too often we get our hopes up that something magical is happening with our national team only to be let down time and time again.    And it's not just Bafana letting us down. It's us letting Bafana down time and again. More specifically it's the PSL clubs letting Bafana down time and again. For the first leg game against Mauritius, Bafana had 12 of the original players called up withdrawn and things didn't look much better for this most recent game when you looked at some of the names pulling on a Bafana jersey. Now PSL clubs are at liberty to hold on to players if there is no official FIFA date scheduled, but besides Orlando Pirates who are involved in continental cup football, why are the other players not being released? The irony is that SAFA give the PSL the right to exist, and yet in the power struggle to get our best footballers in a Bafana jersey, it seems all the power lays with the PSL.     The sad thing is that Shakes Mashaba will take the heat for this, not the PSL, because when you look at the Bafana squad that has done duty for us over the two legs you have to ask yourself what the vision is here? And that question will be directed at Shakes, not any of the PSL clubs or their coaches who are in essence actually the ones directing the selection policy of the national team at times.   If the CHAN tournament is so low down on the list of priorities for senior high-profile South African players and their clubs, then let's rather use this tournament to develop young talent that actually could play a role in the future. With no disrespect to the guys that did duty for us, some of them are not close to getting in the team when we have our strongest players available, so why on earth waste this opportunity to blood younger talent? If indeed Shakes is operating without a mandate to win things, then more is gained from throwing young South Africans in than selecting fringe players who will be tossed aside when the big tournaments and the big games come around. I would say that more would be gained for South African soccer with a loss by young hopefuls than in a win by players who really are not part of the bigger picture.    Shakes has gone on record saying how, because of what has transpired, we now have a very large pool of players from which to choose and we are creating strength in depth. Really? Do we really have strength in depth or just lots of players with Bafana caps?    And this brings me to my next point. With Bafana caps being handed out left, right and centre, the honour of wearing the Bafana jersey is being diluted. That a legend like Doctor Khumalo had to work so hard for his 50th cap, to the point where a nation practically begged for his inclusion and willed him into a team for that much sought after 50th cap, and yet today if a player is available and willing and has a passport, he gets a cap. It is a kick in the teeth to those legends, those pioneering soldiers of the game who have come before and given their all to pull on the colours and go to battle for the country. It cheapens the caps of players like Neil Tovey, Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Benni McCarthy, David Nyathi, the late Sizwe Motaung, Helman Mkhalele, Shaun Bartlett, Eric Tinkler, the late Shoes Moshoeu and the like.    When Brazil call up a new name to wear their national jersey, the whole world wants to know about the player, the whole world stands in judgement of the player. Even when England include new names and fresh faces people are interested because they know that the national jersey is not handed out lightly. Here in South Africa why does that same culture exist only with the national rugby and cricket teams? If it's a test match against a lowly team, when somebody new gets given a Springbok jersey, South Africa talks about it, argues and debates their inclusion. New caps make front-page news in South African newspapers and become the dominant topic on news shows. When Bafana hands out new caps it's a non-event simply because we hand out so many that people can't even keep up with it. What's more, we bomb out of most competitions so early that there isn't really a need to know new faces anyways, especially if it's the same old song that SAFA are singing... we're building for the future, it's about the next generation, this will take time... blah blah blah.     When South Africa were re-introduced to international soccer in 1992 after being banned for so long, the entire country – black and white – waited with baited breath as the first names for our very first all-inclusive national team to play against Cameroon were read out. Every game meant something to every South African and thus every selection was questioned and vigorously debated. You could feel the collective "Ooo" and "Ahhh" of the country as each name was announced. These days it is often replaced with "Who?" and "Ha, ha" and that can't be a good thing.    Shappa,  Clint 

Related tags