The performance of the National Soccer team

I have listened to comments from various ‘experts’ regarding the failure of Bafana to progress beyond the first round of the competition.

Some past players, e.g. Marks Maponyane who came from the main stream, had a point.

Although the goalkeeper cannot be absolved from total blame, he had extremely little assistance from the defenders who failed to carry out their tasks although they are well paid to do so.

The comments from the Minister of Sport were a blast of hot air and an insult to those players who did their bit to play for a required result.

The coach is not to take full blame because PSL clubs at first refused to make key players available. Players were also not made available to him timeously for him to prepare them adequately for the task. Nor could he make use of Orlando Pirates players.

Now, how do you correct the situation?

1. Bring in a rule to force the clubs to make players available to the National coach in time. Failure to do so must attract penalties, either financially or a forfeit of competition points or both.

2. The payment to players must be amended:

a. A low basic fee for being selected.

b. A decent bonus for winning the match.

c. A lesser bonus for a draw.

d. A zero bonus when losing.

3. It would pay off if attention were given to the training of players from an early age and beyond for those with the necessary promise.

No doubt many other people with a better understanding of the problem will have other ideas.

Concerned follower of the Sport