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Benni's earned bragging rights
01/06/2007 10:10 - (SA)
Tumo Mokone
South African football shoulders an equal share of blame for the creation of a grinning Frankenstein called Benni McCarthy.
How does one explain that nine years since McCarthy shot to prominence in a Bafana Bafana jersey, during the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso, the country has not produced another striker of similar quality?
This week Bafana's preparations for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad in Durban on Saturday have been dominated by speculation about Benni's intentions.
The flamboyant striker ended it all by taking a flight back to England on Wednesday, after being home in Cape Town on holiday for two weeks.
Never one to make a quiet exit, Benni's parting shot was that the SA Football Association (Safa) showed its intention by failing to contact him for a few minutes chat to resolve the impasse between him and the federation.
Since Benni declared conflict with the controlling body in January 2006, after he accused Safa of singling him out for blame following a player revolt over incentives during the Egypt Africa Cup of Nations, he has ignored all call-ups to national duty.
Frustration
The Blackburn Rovers striker insists that until Safa, essentially vice-president Mohamed Mubarak, approaches him for peace talks, he will not play for his country again.
Safa didn't respond, and poor Pitso Mosimane was forced to hit his head against the wall in frustration during his tenure as acting national coach, hoping McCarthy will return on his own accord.
During that period the marksman from Hanover Park on the Cape Flats was gaining cult popularity in the working class city of Blackburn, as his goals kept Rovers out of the relegation zone and also gave the club a reasonable run in the Uefa Cup.
Safa had high hopes that the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira would automatically attract McCarthy back to the national team, given the Brazilian's international reputation.
This hope has been dashed, as Parreira this week came close to adding hypertension to an assortment of illnesses that have affected him since his confirmation as Bafana coach.
McCarthy cannot be blamed for being the prima donna that he has become; he is a real superstar and the only one we have.
Pedestal
South Africa has a lot of soccer talent, but until our players prove themselves overseas as Benni did in Spain and Portugal before England, then no one will topple him from his pedestal.
Granted, captain Aaron Mokoena also plays in England, ironically for Blackburn as well and Nasief Morris is at Greek champions, Panathinaikos.
But this pair don't come close to Benni's status, despite their efforts. In fact comparing the two defenders with the striker, is like comparing apples and pears.
It's not McCarthy's fault that the country's development structures have failed to produce decent strikers who know what to do at international level.
Switzerland-based Delron Buckley has done a better job at left-wing than as a forward in recent years, and unfortunately, Siyabonga Nomvethe of Aalborg in Belgium has been based in Europe for seven years but his career there remains a mystery.
On the local front there are few hardworking forwards, guys like Thembinkosi Fanteni (Ajax Cape Town) and Kaizer Motaung jnr (Kaizer Chiefs).
Fearsome
Unfortunately their lack of international exposure limits their prowess to the PSL.
Ironically, Benni is not a fearsome striker in the league of Samuel Eto'o or Didier Drogba or Frederic Kanoute.
He is neither pacey nor powerful in his approach.
At best, he avoids taking on defenders because his dribbling skills are not of the highest standard.
But Benni is damn good at what he does best, finishing off scraps in the 18-yard area and executing accurate shots if he has to shoot from around the edge of the box.
As it's clear we don't have strikers who can do these things at the highest level, someone must talk to Benni as a matter of urgency.
The strategy of setting him up against the fans has failed because the fans have now realised that he is not at fault alone.
Top brass
In Sunday Sun's edition this past weekend another Safa vice-president, Mwelo Nonkonyana, promised to speak to the player in his capacity as the chairperson of SA Football Ltd.
But Nonkonyana never got around doing that; he chose to travel to Zurich with the Safa top brass for a Fifa get-together earlier this week instead.
Chad are not world beaters and Bafana should be able to score a couple of goals against them on Saturday.
In the long-term however, we need Benni McCarthy in the squad.
As things stand right now, Bafana Bafana cannot match the likes of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Egypt and Tunisia, just to name a few.
Read Tumo every week in the Sunday Sun.
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