There is no place for Sirino in Bafana squad – Klate

Former Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United star Daine Klate says there is no need to include Mamelodi Sundowns forward Gaston Sirino in the Bafana Bafana setup.


The retired footballer believes South Africa has enough quality local players to play for Bafana Bafana.

Klate’s comments come after there were suggestions that Sirino should be given citizenship so he could be eligible to play for Bafana Bafana.

“We have a country of over 60 million citizens I don’t believe as South Africa we need to bring anyone from the outside. There are different opinions to different people out there, but we don’t need to go through all of the trouble of getting a visa and all the paperwork for a foreign player to play for SA,” said Klate.

“I think if we cast our net wide enough there is someone out there. We have enough players for us to qualify (for the World Cup), the talent is there. I don’t think there is a lack of talent in the country at the moment. We just have to improve in development and ask around from successful nations like Germany and Spain on how they win youth world tournaments and go on to win the World Cup how they did it. It is about the process. Sirino will just take up someone’s place.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits