Bafana needs Andile Jali
Andile Jali’s constant exclusion from the national team by coach Hugo Broos is baffling to say the least. Broos has made his point clear that as long as he is in charge of the national team, he doesn’t see himself selecting Jali or his Mamelodi Sundowns clubmate Themba Zwane.
Most coaches who leave players out of the national squad do not make that decision in perpetuity – it’s a temporal one that is revisited at a later stage in most cases, depending on how well a player is performing.
But when it comes to Jali, it’s evidently clear that the stubborn Belgian coach has no plans to change his decision – it has been set in stone. And that is where the problem lies.
This is not fair on Jali and the national team. Jali is a national asset and Bafana Bafana needs him to help us qualify for the next Africa Cup Nations and hopefully to the next World Cup in United States, Mexico and Canada.
Jali is in good shape and he is in red-hot form right now. His drive and experience, which helped Sundowns win the domestic treble, is exactly what Bafana Bafana needs.
Broos’ team is brand new and looks promising but there is not enough experience as we saw in the couple of games against Morocco and France. We need Jali’s know-how in the midfield.
Before he moved to Belgium from Orlando Pirates, Jali was one of the best midfielders for his club as well as the national team. And fair enough, things didn’t go as planned for him at K.V Oostende as he battled with weight problems and regaining his old form.
And being dropped from the national team was more than justifiable back then. He was out of shape and not performing consistently to the standard that is required from an international player.
In 2018 he left Belgium to join Mamelodi Sundowns but battled during his first season and it took him time to adjust to the new environment. But after two seasons in Chloorkop, Jali has regained his old form and it was not a fluke that he was voted the PSL Midfielder of the Season.
In fact, Jali was the best South African-born player in the PSL this season without a shadow of doubt. And if it wasn’t for the goalscoring form of Peter Shalulile – Jali would have been the PSL Player of the Season.
Not only did he play well in domestic competitions, he performed with aplomb in the CAF Champions League and his experience of playing on the continent over the year is there for all to see.
So what could be so bad that would make our coach drop the best South African player out of the national team because the notion that 32 is old doesn’t make sense.
Week-in and week-out we see more and more players older than 35 years of age playing well for their national teams. In fact, these days, modern players are playing well beyond the age of 35.
If there were players in the current national team who were performing better, or had more experience than him, then leaving Jali out would make sense. But right now we don’t have players of his calibre in the national squad and that is a problem.