Tinkler believes Keet deserves a place in the Bafana squad

Bafana Bafana legend Eric Tinkler believes Darren Keet still has what it takes to play football at the highest level following a solid return for Cape Town City during the 2023-2024 season.

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Bafana coach Hugo Broos has shown faith and trust with Ronwen Williams, Veli Mothwa and Ricardo Goss as his preferred goalkeepers in the national setup. Keet played almost every minute of the DStv Premiership action for the Citizens with 11 clean sheets in 29 games while conceding 23 goals.

The 34-year-old shotstopper has 13 Bafana caps to his name and his last appearance in a Bafana jersey came in the 2-1 loss to Zambia in an international friendly match in 2020. Broos and his charges are away to continental rivals Nigeria in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on Friday night at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

‘No better goalkeeper’

“With regards to Darren, my humble view is that he should still be in the national team because of the qualities and the experience that he has,” said Tinkler who is a ’96 AFCON winner with Bafana.

“There is no better goalkeeper in South Africa coming out for crosses (than Keet). As a shot-stopper, he’s really good but we understand he is starting to reach the back end of his career. Maybe the coach is looking at other younger keepers but I think with the experience and the knowledge that Darren has and the ability he has, he should still be looked at.”

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The experienced Keet was part of Bafana’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squad in Equatorial Guinea under Shakes Mashaba. He only played in the 3-1 loss to Algeria as South Africa crashed out in the group stages of the tournament after two defeats and one draw.