SEDIBENG.- For example, the appointment of Benni McCarthy as Manchester United first team strikers coach says a lot about us as a country.
Not only that, not long ago one of our former soccer greats, Lucas Radebe was appointed as part of CAF technical Director. Sadly, as a country we have failed to make use of these two regardless of their experience in international football. Radebe and McCarthy played at the highest level of football and were instrumental for Bafana Bafana. Many thought that by this time these two would be involved with the struggling Bafana Bafana or SAFA but NO!
Coach Pitso Mosimane is another reference who went to make a name for himself in a foreign country leading Al Ahly to the ‘promise land’. This is the man who at one stage was told he is not good enough to coach our senior men national team, but another country saw something that we didn’t see in him. This is the biggest challenge in South African football, not acknowledging our own. McCarthy’s move to one of the biggest club in the world Man United has to open our eye as South Africans.
“One day, we will free ourselves from myopic thinking, we will free ourselves from self-hate. We will free ourselves from backward jealousy. We will free ourselves from not promoting each other and no one is coming to save us.” These words were once said by Lux September, one of our own who also serves in CAF.
The reality is that no one is going to change our thinking except ourselves to realise that as the country we are better than we think. It is very disgusting to see how as the country we don’t take ourselves seriously. The other countries see potential from our own but we don’t see anything. It is sad taking into consideration our state of our mens national soccer teams especially Bafana Bafana. For years now Bafana Bafana has been underperforming compared to Banyana Banyana. This can’t be right with all the potential and infrastructure that we are having as acountry but fail to make use of them to our advantage.
Like Lux September said: “No-one is coming to save us”, this is a sad reality about the state affair of our football in this country. It doesn’t make sense why people like Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe and Pitso Mosimane are not part of Bafana Bafana or SAFA despite their knowledge and experience. TOUCHLINE wants to take this opportunity to congratulate Benni McCarthy, and I have no doubt that he will make us proud as a nation. Teams like Manchester City, Al Ahly have made a big statement that we have potential right in front of ourselves, but we don’t see it.
We are too blind to see what is in front of us!
