SOCCER: Lungile Madywabe
‘IF ever there was a good player in our second and third divisions, one of the big teams would have snatched him long ago, and he would be playing there before being considered for the national team,” says Clive Barker, the South African national soccer coach.
This view would unquestionably be true if there was someone officially appointed by the South African Football Association (Safa) to scout for promising young talent in all the affiliates under its auspices.
But the master of spotting young talent, Jomo Sono, (owner and coach of Cosmos) is the only person who has taken it upon himself to search out promising youngsters. No wonder, then, that Barker has recommended that Safa appoint Sono as football manager to oversee the recruitment of players.
“He has been chosen for his expertise in finding young players and his ability to work with both young and older players,” Barker said.
There were two players from the second division — Thomas Madigage and Andrew Tucker, both of Pretoria City — at this weeks national squad training session at Esselen Park in Johannesburg. The difference is that both were previously seasoned first division campaigners, playing for Cosmos and Hellenic respectively. Describing the session as “very successful”, Barker said: “Most of the players looked sharp and I was satisfied with the level of fitness.”
Barker, who has enjoyed an unbeaten run since taking over as national coach, assembled a squad of 40 players on Monday this week, technically in preparation for the international friendly against Mozambique at the end of this month, but in truth it is the beginning of the long preparation for the African Nations Cup next year.
The number of players required for the Confederation of African Football competion is 22, so Barker says he has made it quite clear to the squad that some of them will be dropped depending on their performance.
Barker highlights the dilemma he faced when he was appointed as coach. He says he had two things in mind: to take youngsters and groom them for four years and lose six games in a row, or have the team as it was with older players. He opted for the latter because “the public demands success and does not support a losing team, so a coach or manager is always walking a tightrope”.
One can easily mistake the diminutive Barker for someone who tries to persuade people to buy a product, knowing very well its limitations. The national team does not have a stable winning combination, though Barker argues against this, saying “South Africa is not Argentina or Brazil where soccer is well developed”.
It is, however, a fact that South Africa have stunned most of their ardent critics with some of their results. Whether it is sheer luck, or the team is slowly maturing is anyone’s guess. Most of their good results have been in friendly internationals and winning the African Nations Cup against a host of top teams is another question entirely.
Former Moroka Swallows coach Eddie Lewis believes South Africa should be looking beyond the Nations Cup and building a team for the future. “I will very surprised if South Africa move beyond the quarter-finals, not that I am being unpatriotic but because it would be unrealistic to think so,” he says.
South Africa play Cameroon at the Soccer City stadium, in the opening match of the Nations Cup on January 13 next year.