With two more clinical strikes to his name last Saturday (January 11) in the opening game of the Chan tournament against Mozambique, Bernard Parker has now taken his goal tally for Bafana Bafana to 21 in 65 matches. The prolific striker appears to be in the best form of his life for both club and country, and is arguably the first name the likes of Gordon Igesund and Stuart Baxter write on their teamsheet ahead of a match.
Last season the 27-year-old was instrumental in Kaizer Chiefs' double winning success and his excellent form in front of goal and as a creative force has continued into the current campaign. The Boksburg-born striker scored seven goals for Bafana in 2013 and has started the new year brightly with a brace against the Mambas as well.
He is now fourth on the list of Bafana's all-time leading goalscorers behind Katlego Mphela (23 goals in 53 matches), Shaun Bartlett (28 goals in 74 matches) and Benni McCarthy (32 goals in 80 matches). With Mphela out in the cold for the foreseeable future, it could be just a matter of time before he overtakes 'Killer' in third position.
In addition, 'Hond' could realistically set his sights on chasing down both Bartlett and McCarthy at the top of the nation's top scorer leaderboard. If he keeps scoring over five goals annually as he did in 2013, the player could overtake McCarthy before his 30th birthday in March 2016.
Parker expressed his hope that one day he could challenge to be the leading scorer for the country. He told Chiefs' official website, “I will continue to work hard and hope to score more goals in the coming games. I look at the record books and see the possibility of adding my name in the records. I hope to stay injury free to enable me to score more goals,”
Chiefs' hitman will no doubt look to add to his tally when Bafana take on Mali in their next Chan clash in Group A on Wednesday (January 15).
The action gets underway from 17h00 at Cape Town Stadium.
