Bafana Bafana
Pitso won't turn to Benni
2012-01-18 08:59
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Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane's search for a top striker is far from over but he is unwilling to recall veterans Benni McCarthy and Siyabonga Nomvethe, who are both 34, reports
Sowetan.
The coach still regards Katlego Mphela as the ideal striker. In
Mosimane's eyes, Mphela has no competition from the others. He has
scored 22 goals in 44 appearances for the national team.
Mosimane said he had given all the local strikers a chance to prove
that they can solve Bafana's goalscoring problems. In the most recent
matches - friendlies against Equatorial Guinea, Zambia and Ghana this
month - Bafana's strike force produced only two goals.
In the Absa Premiership this season, Mphela has netted nine times
halfway through the campaign, followed by Nomvethe with eight goals.
Diyo Sibisi of Maritzburg United and the Bidvest Wits duo of Ryan
Chapman and S'busiso Vilakazi are all on six goals, though Vilakazi is
more of an attacking midfielder than a striker.
McCarthy's league tally is just three goals in a season blighted by
injury, but he has been on target three times in the Telkom Knockout.
"We have a long way to go. The players we select also need to buy into
my vision. We don't just pick players because people want to see them in
the team," Mosimane said.