Bafana Bafana assistant coach Jairo Leal has called on Benni McCarthy to prove that he can be counted on ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
The Blackburn Rovers striker finally made his return on Thursday to the Bafana squad for the upcoming friendlies against Japan and Jamaica, on November 14 in Port Elizabeth, and November 17 in Bloemfontein.
It is the first time McCarthy has been selected for the national team since he played in a friendly against Cameroon almost a year ago. Never the most loyal servant of Bafana over the years, McCarthy earned the wrath of former coach Joel Santana, who omitted him from his squad for this year's Confederations Cup. Continues Below ↓
'This latest act of redemption also has Parreira's hand all over it'
As the months wore on, however, and Bafana's goalscoring woes continued, Santana's decision not to select McCarthy began to look increasingly unwise. The hapless Bafana coach eventually paid for a string of poor results, losing his job and paving the way for the return of Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Parreira already persuaded McCarthy out of one of his many international retirements in September 2007, when the country's leading scorer returned to hit the back of the net in a 3-1 Nations Cup qualifying defeat to Zambia in Cape Town.
This latest act of redemption also has Parreira's hand all over it, though the former World Cup winner sat in muted silence at Thursday's press conference, refusing to address the media with more than a "happy to be here" type message until Friday. It was left to Leal and fellow Bafana assistant coach Pitso Mosimane to do the talking.
"He (McCarthy) is our main striker in the country," said Leal.
"These are the last two official Fifa dates (of the year) and it is time to bring Benni back to join the group.
'If he wants to he can help us'
"He will stay with us, and we will see how he is, and what he thinks for the future - if we can count on him or not.
"We decided to bring him back, he is a good player, and it is an opportunity for him to join our group. If he wants to he can help us. We gave a lot of opportunities to many strikers and we think it is the best moment to bring him back now, to finish the group for World Cup 2010."
McCarthy is at least in some sort of scoring form, netting in both rounds of Blackburn's march to the Carling Cup quarterfinals. He has, however, become only a second choice when it comes to English Premier League matches, coming on for the final five minutes of Blackburn's 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on the weekend.
Then again, it can be said that even a half-fit Benni will do for Bafana at present, the national team having scored just four times in a run of eight defeats in nine internationals.
Another striker in the squad for the Japan and Jamaica games is at the other end of the experience spectrum. Parreira did call up young Kermit Erasmus once before, in March 2008, for a friendly against Zimbabwe, but the then SuperSport United striker did not play in the game.
Now at Excelsior Rotterdam in the Dutch second division, and having excelled for Amajita at the World Under-20 championships in Egypt, Erasmus has another chance to shine. Midfielder Daylon Claasen, and goalkeeper Darren Keet are the other two members of that Amajita side called up into the senior set up, and all three are among several pleasant surprises in this Bafana squad.
Kaizer Chiefs Reneilwe Letsholonyane and SuperSport United's Daine Klate, two of the Absa Premiership's in-form players, have also got the nod.
The new or newish faces have been called up, Mosimane indicated, very much with the idea that this is one of the last chances for Parreira to look at potential squad memebers ahead of the 2010 World Cup
La Liga defender Nasief Morris has again missed out on a call-up, but Mosimane suggested that he could be back next year.
"One step at a time, this is not our final squad," he said.
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Showing page 1 of 1 comment pages, 5 total comments
11 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Benny Back!!! Yeah now we will hopefully see some goals coming from the Bafana Squad and we will probably keep our coaches longer ..Stop firing the Coach and start firing the players!!!
13 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
I still can not understand the logic behind calling Benni back, the guy is not even a regular at his club.Nevertheless we'll see what he has to offer but I wont be suprised if he ditches us after or even before the World cup
13 Weeks ago Placide wrote :
Good for him hopefully he will change is wrong behavoiur. refusing the national team call up. No player can be famous without the national team. prove home first and then ..........
13 Weeks ago Placide wrote :
It good to see Benny back in the squad . Hopefully is going to leave is bad behaviour of refusing the national team call up.
13 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
What a waste. Over the hill, overweight and an ego bigger than his already burgeoning waste line, MCCarthy should be consigned to the dustbin of history where he rightfully belongs. He cannot even command a regular place at his club side. To be flogged off to relegation bound Portsmouth. So why are we recalling him.
Making a return: Benni McCarthy has been recalled to the Bafana Bafana squad. Photo: Etienne Rothbart, The Star
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