SOCCER
Neal Collins
There’s something Fishy going on at Charlton. Early in the month, Mark Fish’s World Cup hopes were being written off. We were told that, after an injury sustained during training, the former Orlando Pirates defender would have to put a hold on his chances of an international comeback for South Africa.
There was plenty of gloomy talk about knee ligaments and serious problems. But Bafana Bafana supporters, already facing a 2002 World Cup without inspirational captain Lucas Radebe (who really does have serious knee problems), can take heart.
Charlton boss Alan Curbishley now assures us: “Mark has had minor surgery on his cartilage; he’ll be out for three weeks at the most.”
For Charlton, desperate for Premiership points, that does represent something of a blow.
Fish, after having a piece of rogue cartilage removed last week, admits: “It’s very tight from sixth position down and I think it’s important to get a couple of results in the next few weeks. We are in the middle of a very difficult run.”
But for South African coach Jomo Sono, three weeks is no real problem. He’s got plenty of other things to sort out in the meantime.
Fish, 27 and capped 59 times, should be ready for warm-up matches from the end of the month. The 18-month self-imposed international retirement is almost certainly over.
The only thing that can stop his comeback now is Fish’s mouth rather than his knee.
He was quoted as saying: “I stopped playing for South Africa because I did not agree with the way they were treating people. I will consider playing for Bafana Bafana again, but I spoke to Shaun Bartlett recently and it seems things have not changed.
“Shaun was put under pressure to go to the African Nations Cup. That is going to cause conflict. They need to sort it out.”
Hardly the words of a man seeking to ingratiate himself with the South African footbal authorities, is it? If Fish puts his foot much further into his mouth, he could just cause a serious knee injury.