Mhlongo can now show Shakes why he deserves a call-up
JOHANNESBURG: He might have controversially failed to honour a Bafana Bafana callup in November, but Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Brilliant Khuzwayo used the Soweto derby back then to impress Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba, who was stranded for a replacement after Itumeleng Khune was forced to withdraw due to injury.
With Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs facing off for the fifth time this season in tomorrow’s Nedbank Cup last 32 clash, Mhlongo can’t deny that there is no better time than now to finally catch Mashaba’s eye.
And Mhlongo won’t be as careless as his Chiefs counterpart Brilliant Khuzwayo, who asked to be excused from Bafana’s back-to-back 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Angola almost four months ago to attend a family bereavement, only to become tabloid fodder when he was seen at a nightclub.
Mashaba will again be faced with a conundrum next Thursday when he announces his Bafana squad to travel to Cameroon for a must-win 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier three weeks from now, which will be followed by the return leg in Durban three days later.
The obvious choices, especially in goal, are either injured, out of favour at their clubs, or simply uninterested.
“I’m surprised that people say there is a goalkeeper crisis ahead of such a big game for the national team,” Mhlongo said yesterday, revealing that he’d been expecting the conversation to come up as soon as he arrived for the press conference in Parktown.
“There are a lot of fantastic goalkeepers in the country. I don’t believe there is a crisis. Whoever gets the nod will step up and will do the nation proud.
“Of course I’d love to represent the national team given that at one point I did get very close when I was with the Under-23s and Shakes Mashaba was the coach. He is a fantastic coach and I’m grateful for the opportunity that he gave me in the past.”
Khuzwayo was Man of the Match when Chiefs beat Pirates on penalties to progress to the final of another domestic cup competition, the Telkom Knockout.
His inclusion in last year’s Afcon squad in Equatorial Guinea probably made it easy for Mashaba to recall him in place of Khune. Mhlongo is way down the pecking order but with limited options, Mashaba might just risk picking him. And the Soweto derby is known for putting the spotlight on a much-talked about individual.
“I was never going to get this on a silver platter even when I was doing well before my injury (Mhlongo was ruled out for three months earlier in the season),” he said. “I always knew I would have to work hard for this. Maybe this is the time. But I have to be focused on the task at hand, which is the cup game against Chiefs.
“I have to push myself and raise the bar again, and it will show like it was showing in previous games. It will also show on Saturday, because I have good goalkeepers pushing me. At Pirates, there’s Siyabonga Mpontshane, who has played for Bafana before, as well as Felipe Ovono, an international goalkeeper himself. Chiefs have Brilliant and (Reyaad) Pieterse.”