GOOD GOLLY, MR DOLLY!
Khanyiso Tshwaku looks at the pros and cons of SA players heading to Europe. Now that Dolly has signed for Montpellier, it remains to be seen if he’ll adapt and make it Some of SA’s best and worst exports
ONCE the dust has settled on Keagan Dolly’s move to Ligue 1’s Montpellier, the focus will shift to how quickly he will adapt to life beyond the Limpopo River.
At the Rio Olympic Games in August it became clear the soon-to-be former Mamelodi Sundowns star was on borrowed time.
He wore the look of a man-child who could carry the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and seemed to cope with the pressure of being the main act in a prime Broadway show.
It should have been the time that Sundowns realised their caged footballing bird would have to stretch his wings and find his place in the bigger footballing jungle.
However, there’s an axis in which South African football operates that is not quite aligned with how the rest of the football galaxy works, but that is the joy of the unpredictable and the beautiful game.
Whether or not Dolly will be campaigning in different colours by the end of this month is a moot point.
It will be a case of how quickly he adapts to his new league and new club.
After all, South African exports have not quite covered themselves in glory after leaving these shores in recent years.
Ajax Amsterdam’s Thulani Serero has been a case in point, even though he found himself at a club going through a painful but necessary transition.
While he was Foppe de Haan’s successful football project at Ajax Cape Town, Serero has not captivated the Amsterdam Arena in the manner in which he ruled the Cape Town and Athlone stadium.
There was a buzz and ferocity to Ajax Cape Town that has not been reproduced before or since Serero.
With Serero at the helm, the Urban Warriors dazzled, intimated and thrilled in the same line.
The football magic created in their kitchen with Serero being the head chef was nearly on par with the delectable courses served by the all-conquering Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs teams coached by the late Ted Dumitru.
There was an expectation that Serero would continue with his calculated wizardry in the Netherlands, but that hasn’t been the case.
His issue has been one of an inability to adapt to different demands in a changing team. The fact that Tefu Mashamaite only lasted a season with BK Hacken is tantamount to a failed spell, especially with the low stature of the Swedish league in Europe.
South African football’s deep pockets — SuperSport United’s — may have had a role to play, but there’s also an expectation for a footballer to grit out at least three seasons before raising the white flag.
Being one of South Africa’s most accomplished defenders despite the lack of national team recognition at the time of his departure, a lot was expected of Mashamaite and the fact he came back after one season was a sign of surrender.
There will always be those who rail against the grain like Andile Jali, who has made the most of his move to KV Oostende in Belgium.
The Jupiler League will always be the less illustrious cousin of the Bundesliga in Germany and France’s Ligue 1.
The Belgian national team has developed a habit of qualifying for tournaments they could not get into seven years ago.
The strength of a national team has to be judged on the functionality of its domestic league and it’s clear the Belgian league is doing something right.
Playing against clubs like Anderlecht and Club Brugge who campaign regularly in the Champions League can only do Jali’s development as a player a world of good.
Bafana Bafana have been the main beneficiary of Jali’s accelerated maturity, with the same applying to Mandla Masango.
While there have been whiffs of frustration with his Danish club Randers FC, the form he has displayed in the national team is testament to the exponential progress.
While he grew under coach Stuart Baxter at Chiefs, Masango has become a better player even though the Danish league pales in comparison to the rest of Europe.
It is a crying shame that there aren’t worldclass South African players campaigning in Spain, Germany, England and Italy, but that’s the price SA football has to pay for its inability to find a clear and cohesive development pattern.
The success and the failures of the various South African footballers in Europe is a burden Dolly alone has to bear.
The 23-year-old midfielder can take solace from the fact that there are those like Lucas Radebe and Aaron Mokoena who thrived despite their limitations, while a shining star like Benni McCarthy fulfilled his potential.
There is something good that Montpellier have seen in Dolly that has seen them hunt the player in January.