Ndlovu answers the call

The lack of quality South African strikers, especially in the Premier Soccer League, is giving national coach Stuart Baxter and his selection panel endless headaches. So when a gem like Dynamos striker Sandile Ndlovu comes along and scores 11 goals in the league — three short of last season’s top goalscorer — someone is bound to notice.

Ndlovu’s efforts have been rewarded with a call-up for national duty against Australia on Wednesday night in Durban. 

Baxter was full of praise for Ndlovu, saying the Dynamos man is a mobile, athletic and skilful player who has good feet and is in goal-scoring form. ”Ndlovu has an attitude that if he does not score he will continue to try and score,” said Baxter. 

Baxter’s assistant, Steve Khompela, told the Mail & Guardian that another player who had been in line for his first national cap was Emmanuel ”Scara” Ngobese — but the player could not make it because of club commitments.

Khompela said the Bafana Bafana technical team would continue to monitor Ngobese as there was still a gap on the left side of midfield in the national team.  

Ndlovu’s scoring ability was first noticed by Sundowns, who signed him up and then loaned him to Dynamos. The player said: ”The national team call-up was a surprise. I was just scoring goals and fortunately for me the technical team noticed this.” He is happy with the call-up, but will not be satisfied until he plays for Bafana Bafana and scores.

The inclusion of a player like Ndlovu in the national team shows other aspiring league players that if they are consistent they will get a national call-up. 

Baxter is not perturbed by the absence of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka from the Australian line-up because of injury.  He has warned both his players and the South African public that the Australian team does not do any friendlies.  

The Australian game is one of three games that will help Baxter prepare for the 2006 World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifier against Uganda next month. After the Australian game Bafana Bafana will play Seychelles and then either Mauritius or Madagascar in the Confederation of Southern Africa Association of Football (Cosafa) Cup. Baxter said that for the Cosafa game he was looking at using a few under-23 players and other youngsters he believes have great potential to give them international experience — ”but I will not send lambs to the slaughter”.