Qualifying criteria should be much tougher
Iwas speaking to Orlando Pirates defender Thembela Sikhakhane recently and he mentioned something that found myself deliberating over later. He said his dream was to play in England and that he knows to fulfill that dream, he will have to work really hard because he will have to be a regular for our national team before any team abroad considers him.
I was left wondering why we do not have the same or similar rules here. Surely we want only the best players in our league which we consider to be the best on the continent and among the best in the world. We have had such an influx of foreign players, some of whom failed to make the grade in their own countries.
There are plenty examples I can give you. Take Jose Torrealba for instance. The likeable striker never scored more than 10 goals a season at both Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs, but perhaps his boyish looks charmed us into thinking he was a great goalpoacher. He was always highly spoken of.
Golden Arrows were once duped into signing Kofi Tanoh. One day I was at Arrows’s training and their boss Mato Madlala was there as well. Siyabonga Sangweni was having the time of his life with the short and speedy Ivorian striker, easily hitting him with
Sibongiseni Gumbi
nutmegs and tsamayas.
We had a hearty laugh when he did it the first time, and although Sis’Mato reprimanded us at first, she later saw the funny side of it. And that is when she admitted that they had been duped into signing him. His agent had spoken so fondly about how fast and accurate he was with his shooting.
I don’t think Tanoh ever got to play in an official game for Arrows. Yes, that is how bad he was. And recently there was Ovidy Karuru and Sula Matovu at Chiefs. As to who scouted those two and saw them fit to play for one of the country’s biggest teams still puzzles me.
Now back to the topic at hand. If we had some rule stating that a player must have been in their national team squad at least for the past six months before he is allowed a work permit to play in the Absa Premiership, I believe our league would grow even stronger and more competitive.
Believe me, I have nothing against foreign players. Some of them add so much value you can’t even imagine their teams without them. Think of Willard Katsande at Chiefs, Jeremy Brockie at SuperSport United and Robert N’Gambi at Platinum Stars, to mention but a few.
We have plenty of talent locally that just needs to be given a chance, so instead of importing players that come and sit on the bench for two to three years, let’s have our own doing that.
I thought I’d give you a little quiz to jog your memory on this beautiful first Saturday of Spring 2016. Which goalkeeper has the record most assists in South Africa? Want a clue? He plays for one of the Soweto giants and has three assists in two games.