Pienaar deserves praise

RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 01, Steven Pienaar during the South African national training and player interviews from Royal Marang Sports Complex on June 01, 2011 in Rustenburg, South Africa Photo by Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 01, Steven Pienaar during the South African national training and player interviews from Royal Marang Sports Complex on June 01, 2011 in Rustenburg, South Africa Photo by Duif du Toit / Gallo Images

Published Oct 6, 2012

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As hard as I may try, I have found it difficult to jump onto the bandwagon that sought to demonise Steven Pienaar following confirmation this week that he would no longer play for Bafana Bafana.

There’s no doubt that Pienaar’s decision to quit international football was shocking, coming as it did just a few months before the African Nations Cup returns to these shores in January.

As a consequence of this shock, when, on Tuesday, Robin Petersen confirmed a Sunday Times report that had alluded to Pienaar’s international retirement, it is understandable that some among us had harsh words for the Everton midfielder.

But I could never bring myself to describe him as unpatriotic or brand him a traitor, as some all over social media chose to, even without providing a shred of evidence to justify their vilification of the player.

For all the years that I have covered the national team, here and on tour, Pienaar has not once given me reason to doubt his commitment to the national cause.

He was always available to talk, formally or informally, and did not seek to dodge even the most difficult of questions.

Following the sacking of Pitso Mosimane – the man who elevated him to the Bafana captaincy in 2010 – in the aftermath of the 1-1 draw with Ethiopia in a World Cup 2014 qualifier, Pienaar spoke frankly of how shattered he was, but then did not attempt to shield the former coach from any blame.

There are many other recent examples where Pienaar showed his patriotism, contrary to largely baseless claims that he lacked passion to wear the green and gold of Bafana.

Last year, as Bafana prepared for their away Nations Cup qualifier against Egypt, he reported to camp carrying an injury, and so determined was he to play for SA that he travelled to Cairo in spite of the said injury, at a time when most of his European-based colleagues were on holiday.

Eventually, Pienaar did not get to play that match, which Bafana, fatally, could only draw 0-0. The same injury kept him out of the final two qualifiers against Niger and Sierra Leone, from which Bafana garnered only a point to miss out on the continental finals.

Nobody knows if Bafana would have won any of those last three qualifiers and secured a ticket to Equatorial Guinea/Gabon this year had Pienaar played, but to brand him as part of that failure is to show little regard for the facts.

Pienaar’s 10 years as a Bafana player, sadly, coincided with the national team’s freefall. Such a sustained decline can surely not be attributed to one person, when as many as eight coaches have taken charge of Bafana during Pienaar’s tenure as a player.

The argument that he hardly gave Bafana the same commitment he displays at club level is also, to me, grossly absurd.

To start with, Pienaar was not surrounded by players of the same quality he has at Goodison Park, and more importantly, plays on the left wing at Everton, whereas for Bafana, he was fielded in just about every midfield position during his 10-year period as an international.

That Pienaar has been Bafana’s most high-profile player naturally put a burden of expectation on him, but the truth is, even if you were to select Lionel Messi for our current squad, he too would look ordinary. No team can ever succeed on the back of one individual.

The only thing I can fault Pienaar on is the timing of his retirement from the team. He should have given it at least one last shot at rescuing his legacy, which has been tainted by several glaring failures in the last few years. But perhaps comments by Gordon Igesund regarding the Bafana captaincy – when the coach ill-advisedly stated Pienaar may not be the right man to lead, without even speaking to him – may have hurt him more than we thought.

Still, to me he’s no prima donna. He’s no Benni McCarthy. This is Pienaar’s first retirement from international football and I have no doubt it is his last, so principled he’s been all these years.

*Follow Matshe on Twitter @Nkareng

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