New Direction

The latest bafana bafana squad has ushered in a new dawn, with a number of young and exciting prospects handed the opportunity to shine on the international stage. A number of teenage attacking talents now have the opportunity to put to bed the long-standing quip of “finding the new benni mccarthy”. Here, the former bafana bafana star himself tells kick off what he thinks.

- Fabio De Dominicis

It was with great anticipation, and a sprinkling of apprehension, that the media packed into SAFA house on the second Thursday in March, the rumours, murmurings and hype in the build up about to be laid to rest.

Four months after Bafana Bafana’s last match – and the unforgettable manner in which Shakes Mashaba lost his job following an angry tirade aimed at the men that paid his salary – the country’s first two matches of 2017 were around the corner. But would a new dawn bring about any change in the new day?

Twitter lit up, abuzz with comments, opinions and praise as caretaker coach Owen da Gama read out the 23 names calledup for the countries friendlies against Angola and Guinea-Bissau. Among them, three youngsters that donned the February KICK OFF magazine cover – Lorenzo Gordinho, Phakamani Mahlambi and Percy Tau.

Added to that, teenage sensation Luther Singh, who was top goal scorer at the recent Under-20 Nations Cup where he helped Amajita qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in South Korea in May.

The fresh new faces, the selection of in-form players and injection of youth left the large majority nodding in approval, including the country’s all-time leading goal scorer Benni McCarthy.

“The great aspect of this selection is that 90-percent of players are in form, and playing regularly at their clubs,” McCarthy tells KICK OFF. “It’s a nice combination and good mixture of players that have been in the national team and a few new faces that have broken through and come into the system.”

Call-ups for Amajita’s star players Mahlambi and Singh, reward for their exploits at the recent Afcon and at club level, is exactly what McCarthy believes SAFA need to continue with in order for the national team to prosper.