DEFENDING YOUR PRIDE

Over the years, claims have persisted that Pienaar hardly gave his best in the Bafana Bafana jersey as he held his personal interests above that of the country’s, often being criticised for his lacklustre displays. However, the former national team skipper rebuffed such speculative attacks and explains that the constant chopping and changing of coaching and playing personnel was the reason behind some of his subdued performances. “When you play for the national team, you always give 100-percent, but a lot of people don’t realise that when we come to the national team, there are always 15 new players and you never get time to work together. There were never the same 22 players in the team and when you come back you played with someone whose second name you didn’t even know. It was always difficult, but like I said, I always gave 100-percent, in fact all the players did because it’s about defending your pride and honour as a country. You’ll never play well in all the games, and sometimes as a player you have to just take criticism because it’s part of the game.”