JOHANNESBURG - Josephs’ turnabout on the  abrupt, self-imposed  end to his international career was the result of a meeting between Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund and the Orlando Pirates goalkeeper.

Josephs, who has 22 caps to his name,  quit the team in May, citing personal reasons for the decision.

Though the player never made public the motive behind his decision, suspicion was that Josephs was disgruntled that previous Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane preferred Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune over him.

This was picked up from his club-mate, Benni McCarthy’s comments at the time. “Moeneeb is a great professional and if I was in his shoes I would have done the same thing,” said McCarthy at the time.

“You do everything possible to fight for the No 1 jersey, but you know you are never going to get it, because it’s clear it belongs to  Khune.
“Khune is  a great goalkeeper who’s worked hard and put himself there. But  in this country there are a lot of great goalkeepers and you have to make it open for everyone to fight for the top spot.”

But now it seems Igesund has won the player’s heart for the country.

 “I went to see Moeneeb Josephs regarding his Bafana Bafana future and to discuss his retirement from international football, which I thought was premature,” Igesund said.  “I didn’t go there to beg him to play for the national team, but to hear the reasons for his early retirement at the peak of his career.

“He also acknowledged that he has to work as hard as all the other players to earn a national team call-up as there are many good goalkeepers in the country. He assured me he would fight for his place in the squad,” added Igesund.