HLANTI AIMS TO WIN SOME SILVERWARE WITH BAFANA
Wits defender says he is ready to help the team to a Nations Cup spot in 2019, writes
BIDVEST Wits and
Bafana Bafana defender Sifiso Hlanti has set his sights on representing his country in a major tournament, having tasted what it is like to win trophies in South Africa.
Hlanti, who is the incumbent leftback for Bafana Bafana, has already won seven caps for his country. The Newcastle-born defender has also been enjoying good times with Wits.
He has won three trophies with the club, having been heavily involved last season as Wits won the Premiership and MTN 8 titles. He was also instrumental this weekend when Wits won the Telkom Knockout thanks THE FINAL of the Telkom Knockout Cup was, in my mind, dealt a severe blow by the sponsor’s marketing division’s unfettered influence over the venue choice, if evidence witnessed over the weekend is anything to go by.
As it is, Bidvest Wits ascended from the bottom of the league to capture a major title on offer on the South African football landscape. Granted that was a miracle of sorts, but the choice of venue really was odd, to put it diplomatically.
In case you think the criticism is overboard or undue, no less a personality than stand-in Premier Soccer League chief executive Mato Madlala came on our tellies and said the sponsor will have free reign over the decision over the choice of venue. The sponsor ultimately did choose a venue and look how it turned out for both finalists in this premier cup competition.
We have witnessed how Bidvest Wits and Bloemfontein Celtics often play in front of less than a capacity crowd; this seems to be the norm on any good day. to a well-taken goal by Vincent Pule at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu in Durban. Having failed to fulfil his dream of competing in the World Cup, Hlanti is still optimistic of donning the Bafana jersey in a major tournament.
“Every football player at the professional level wants to win trophies and I’m happy that I’m achieving that,” he said.
“It is a great feeling for me to win trophies. It is an honour. We all want to play for our countries in a major tournament and I’m no different. Everyone is giving his all for the nation because we know what it means to play for your country. We need to put in extra effort so that we can be on the right track,” Hlanti affirmed.
Bafana have struggled to qualify for major tournament over the past couple of years, having failed to book their place at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon as well as the World Cup in Russia next year, where they fluffed the opportunity of qualifying despite having been in a relatively easy group against the likes of Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
“I watched the World Cup draw on Friday, and it wasn’t nice because I was one of the players who were competing in the qualifiers. It’s a pity that we didn’t qualify. It was so painful,” Hlanti explained.
Bafana commenced very well in 2019
Afcon qualifiers, and defeated Nigeria 2-0 away from home. Their next assignment is against Libya at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in March.
Having beaten Nigeria away, and with two teams qualifying from each group, Bafana should – on paper, at least – qualify easily for the Afcon, but Hlanti says with our current generation it is not as elementary as that.
“There are not easy things in football. I would say that because I’ve learned so many things if I looked at my journey. Everyone who is playing football must always give his all.
“There’s not even a single player who was born with his hands in his pocket. We must take our hand from our pockets all the time. If we can all do that then everyone will be successful in football,” Hlanti elaborated.
Wits have endured a terrible start to their title defence, and are sitting at the bottom of the log. Tomorrow they will welcome Ajax Cape Town at Bidvest Stadium in a league outing, with he game starting at 7.30pm.
“I won’t say much about our chances of winning the league. Teams that are above us are not far ahead in terms of the number of points. We still have a long way to go.
“The most important thing before the first round ends is that we need to collect maybe seven points in our next three matches,” Hlanti concluded. itself was and is punted essentially as a marketing tool for the sponsor. So an exception could certainly have been made here.
The reasoning is that the more bums on seats you have at a stadium and the more of spectacle you can provide via the television, the better the situation turns out for the sponsor.
So, based on that no brainer, the Molemela stadium would definitely have been a better fit for the final.
The sponsor need only have browsed through archived video material of the Siwelele in full song on home turf and they would have seen the point I am making.
We congratulate the Clever Boys on their win and a welcome return to continental club competition.
On that note, this humble columnist notes with some excitement the holiday season mood taking hold among you hardworking folk as you pack away your brains, pencils and other work tools to fully take charge of a well-deserved holiday.