JOHANNESBURG – Now that he is officially South Africa’s best shot-stopper after being crowned the PSL’s Goalkeeper of the Season, Darren Keet has set his sights on owning the Bafana Bafana No 1 jersey.
“I want to go to Bafana and compete again. Obviously I want to play and that’s why I am there (in the squad),” said the Bidvest Wits keeper.
“If I don’t want to play, why should I even be there?”
Keet, though, is professional and realistic enough to accept that only one goalkeeper gets to play, and with Itumeleng Khune the current incumbent, the Cape-born keeper is aware he has his work cut out for him.
But given his incredible showing in the league, where he helped Wits to their first championship, Keet has every reason to believe he can usurp the Kaizer Chiefs goalminder.
“I would love to say I am always challenging for the Bafana jersey and at the end of the day, we have a coach who decides on who plays. Sometimes you’ve got to sit on the bench.”
Deputising for another goalkeeper is something he knows very well after watching from the sidelines at the beginning of the season as Moeneeb Josephs stood between the sticks for the Clever Boys.
“When I came to Wits I was on the bench at the beginning of the season and eventually I took over the starting berth.”
And once he took over, Keet never let go of the gloves, his international experience and class shining through as he helped Wits shut out many an opponent en route to that crowning glory.
That he was then rewarded with the individual award was the cherry on top of a brilliant maiden season back in the local game following a long spell in Europe.
Keet joined Wits from Belgian club KV Kortrijk last July having been there for five seasons.
His return to the local league surprised many given he was playing regularly there.
“People will always ask questions but at the end of the day Wits were ambitious and I’ve also got my own ambitions. It worked well together. We both wanted to win trophies and we also wanted to achieve as much as we could. The season shows that were quite successful,” Keet explained
They had success alright, Wits not only winning the championship but having started the season with a bang by capturing the MTN8 trophy courtesy of a 3-0 hammering of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Those triumphs meant Keet has won just about every trophy on offer in the local game.
Before he went to Europe, he was in the Wits team that captured the 2010 Nedbank Cup on the occasion of the grand opening of the new FNB Stadium that was to host both the opening and final matches of the Fifa World Cup.
“The Telkom Knockout is one trophy that is missing in my cabinet. I’ve won all the cups that are on offer in South African football besides it,” he says.
And he endeavours to change that
“We always go for all the trophies. I always say if you are not going to go for everything you might as well not go to training. We want to win as much as we can this coming season. We want to do well in all fronts.”
And with Wits off to contest the Caf Champions League, Keet would love to once again play a part in helping the club rewrite their record books.
Encouraged by his personal award and with a couple of his teammates (Thulani Hlwatshawayo and Daine Klate) having also won individual gongs at the PSL awards, Keet believes Wits have what it takes to shine some more next season.
“At the moment I’m only left with Telkom and Caf Champions League and we will be going out for those.”
And there’s also the small matter of chasing after that Bafana jersey.