Soccer
Benni Bafana's jewel
2009-04-06 07:30
Jaco van der Merwe - Beeld
Johannesburg - Benni McCarthy showed this weekend again that he is too good to be written off by Bafana Bafana.
McCarthy scored his 11th goal of the season for Blackburn Rovers as they defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the English Premier League.
McCarthy equalised after which Andre Ooijer scored the winner shortly before the end. The victory gives Blackburn breathing space after they were perilously close to the relegation zone.
The fact that McCarthy played makes a mockery of his controversial hamstring injury two weeks ago. Blackburn’s doctors could not find anything wrong with him, but he still refused to pitch for Bafana’s training camp prior to games against Norway and Portugal.
There are rumours that Bafana have now had enough of his unreliability and that he may lose his place for the Confederations Cup in June.
However, the reality is that McCarthy and Bernard Parker are South Africa’s two best finishers. McCarthy’s 31 goals is the most by a Bafana player and he is one of only four South Africans playing in Europe’s top leagues. Two seasons ago he was the second most prolific marksman in the Premiership.
Bafana coach Joel Santana does not have time to test new strikers because by the time his team takes on Poland in June, he will already have a final squad for the Confederations Cup.