Katlego Mphela (File)

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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – I am caught uncomfortably in two minds about reports that English Premiership side Birmingham City are “interested” in the services of Bafana Bafana leading lights Katlego Mphela and Siphiwe Tshabalala.

The pluses are fairly obvious: laugh all you like about the current calibre of the England side, as reflected in their awful World Cup, but the English league remains one of the strongest -- not to mention the most watched worldwide – on the planet.

Clearly if one or both of the South Africans, who stamped their mark to a decent extent on SWC 2010, is indeed snapped up by the Blues, the long-term benefits to both the individuals themselves and our national side might be plentiful.

And do not fall into the trap of venturing that Birmingham are not a “glamour” side: one of the very strengths of the Premiership, with its galaxy of quality players from far and wide, is that the bottom side is not incapable of knocking over the top one – it has happened before and will doubtless happen again.

Nor should it be forgotten that the team managed by canny Scot Alex McLeish punched rather proudly above their perceived weight anyway in 2009/10: they were “top-halfers” in ending ninth with 50 points, even if there was a significant gap of 11 points between them and eighth-placed Everton.

Comparisons in standard with the local Absa Premiership are futile … bluntly, there remains no comparison.

And yet, as Bafana seek to stay on a corrective path and domestic soccer also tries valiantly – I like to think – to cash in on a broader South African audience now being able to identify with some of the PSL’s better, international-class players, I also can’t help thinking that the surrender of Mphela and/or Tshabalala to more lucrative overseas climes would be unfortunately timed.

We have some state-of-the-art, cavernous soccer venues to try to fill countrywide, as well as plenty of the established smaller ones employed by the PSL for domestic contests, and the dreadlocked Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Tshabalala – he of the wonder-strike against Mexico – is the kind of name that will be relied upon to maximise interest.

Similarly, the tall and swift Sundowns striker Mphela, who notched the second goal in South Africa’s pride-restoring 2-1 World Cup victory over France, will now be a rather more identifiable figure to many of his compatriots.

Another thing to consider is that for the World Cup – where their mostly gutsy showing has since seen them rise from No 83 to 66 in the FIFA rankings – Bafana mastermind Carlos Alberto Parreira pinned most of his reliance on home-based players and it arguably paid credible dividends.

Perhaps hanging onto one and losing the other of the duo sought by Birmingham would not be the worst outcome for South African soccer right now?

I fear too much of an exodus of Bafana players abroad in the coming weeks might mean a missed chance in nurturing a broader support base for our oft-maligned domestic game …