‘SA footballers have a lot of catching up to do’
FORMER soccer star Delron Buckley, capped 73 times for Bafana Bafana, has challenged local coaches, urging them to evolve and improve in their trade.
“The coaches in South Africa shouldn’t just stay here and think they have made it. They need to renew their coaching badges to become more intelligent and improve their knowledge,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of his autobiography Delron Buckley: My Life, ghost-written by Myan Subrayan, the former VFL Bochum, Arminia Bielefeld, FC Basel, Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund leftwinger said local coaches had to become better at their jobs to produce a high quality of next-generation South African footballers.
He recently attended a German Football Association coaching course in Namibia because, as “football changes every single year”, he wanted to continue learning. Buckley, a fleet-footed left-winger, spoke of how difficult his first two years as a player in Germany were, including a frosty welcome at Dortmund.
The former international, who played for seven European clubs in Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus, said South Africa had a lot of catching up to do because German players as young as 16 were already ripe to play in the Bundesliga, whereas locally players turned professional at 25 and still needed bedding in time.
Buckley, who headed to Germany seeking stardom in the Bundesliga as a fresh-faced 17-year-old at the dawn of South Africa’s democracy in 1994, also lamented the number of local footballers returning from Europe after only a year or two.
“Our players are too pampered; especially now that there are clubs like Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates paying big salaries, the players are in a comfort zone.
“They don’t want to go to Europe to learn a new language and play in the Champions League because they are comfortable earning R300 000 or R400 000 and driving nice cars and enjoying the nice weather in South Africa,” Buckley said.
Football was not about the trappings of fame and fortune, but about leaving a legacy.
“I managed to stay in Europe for so long because of my speed, as I was fast with the ball at my feet, and the mentality of wanting to succeed.
“Although it was difficult the first two years, I am a person who never backs down because I always want to go a step higher and that’s what I did,” said Buckley.
Commenting on the current crop of young Bafana players, including the likes of Percy Tau of Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs’ Lorenzo Gordinho and Bidvest Wits striker Phakamani Mahlangu, he said any of them could make the grade in Europe if they applied themselves.
“There are a lot of young players in the national team and I’m just happy that Kermit Erasmus is back in the Bafana side because that boosts the morale of the young players,” Buckley said.
“At the end of the day it won’t happen if they don’t give 100% on the pitch, because people only judge you on your performances. If you’re not going to perform in the national team, you’re not going to get anywhere.
“These youngsters who have been called up to the national team have nothing to lose; they just need to go out there, play their hearts out, win games and make the nation proud – because that’s what the fans want to see; no matter how they play, they must win games.”
He singled out Keagan Dolly, a left-winger whose style of play has been likened to his, who recently left African club champions Sundowns for French Ligue 1 outfit Montpellier, as a player with potential to achieve great things in European football.
“Wherever I go everyone tells me, ‘Keagan Dolly is just like you Bucks, just like you’.
“He has the same mentality, same skill, same speed, is a leftfooter and he’s a quality player.
“He showed it at Mamelodi Sundowns, but now he has to show it in Europe and with all the skills he has and that dangerous left foot, I’m sure he will,” Buckley said.
He urged Dolly to take more responsibility on the field by being fearless in taking on opposition defenders because South African fans wanted to see more of that.
Having played with and against some of the biggest names in world football, Buckley named Czech Republic international Tomas Rosicky, with whom he played during the 2005/2006 season at Dortmund, as one of the two best players he played alongside.
Christian Wörns, the legendary former German national defender who was a teammate of Buckley’s at the Westfalenstadion, is one of the best players the Sydenham-born player shared a changeroom with.
“Wörns played for clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, and the German national team, and although he played for all these big teams, he was a down-to-earth person and never thought he was bigger than anyone, and he was a great defender.”
He named German managers Uwe Rapolder at Bielefeld and Klaus Toppmoller at Bochum as the two best coaches he had worked under in his 20-year career.
“With Rapolder it is because I had a lot of success with him, as he built the team around me and that’s why I scored 20 goals for Bielefeld in the 2004/2005 season, and Klaus Toppmoller because he’s the one that promoted me to Bochum’s first team from the second team and he gave me courage and motivation for my career to succeed.”
With the South African Football Association (Safa) set to announce a new national team coach after Bafana’s international friendly match against Angola this week, Buckley declared his own ambition of one day coaching the national side, which he served at two