Shakes Mashaba remained steadfast in his unwillingness to explain the shock omission of Thulani Serero from the final 23-man squad that will represent South Africa at the Africa Cup of Nations finals next month.
The Ajax Amsterdam star, who contested European Champions League matches against world giants such as Barcelona, was declared not good enough for Bafana Bafana yesterday when a highly philosophical Mashaba named the players that will try to conquer the continent in Equatorial Guinea.
All the coach would say was “Serero is not in the team because other players proved to be better than him”. That explanation, however, did not seem to wash with most of the press corps who had gathered in downtown Johannesburg for the announcement.
The general feeling was that Serero – who was key in Bafana’s qualification for the biennial, continental soccer showpiece – could have been left out due to his failure to avail himself for the recent camp that ended yesterday, despite football in the Dutch league being on a break.
Not that Mashaba would have been bothered about any speculation as to why he left the star midfielder out. “I explained the criteria we followed in getting to where we are and I do not have to justify why I have not included some players or why some are left out,” the stern-faced coach said.
And among the criteria were factors such as “a player’s good standing with his club, patriotism and a good attitude” – and Serero’s no show for the mini-camp that ended yesterday probably failed to meet the last two. Mashaba spent no less than half-an-hour reading what would have made for a successful university thesis as he explained the long process he took to get to the final 23-man line-up.
Phrases ranging from “the genesis of every success is a dream” to “we can only reap rewards if we apply the necessary work” littered his talk in an uncharacteristic address that helped explain the enormity of what the veteran coach is facing.
Mashaba should have led South Africa at the Afcon 10 years ago, having presided over Bafana’s qualification for Tunisia 2004. But he was fired just before that for refusing to be dictated to in terms of team selection. Yesterday he spoke of his elation at finally getting the chance to go to the continent’s premier soccer event.
“I feel like a champion,” he said with a smile. “I’m excited. It’s an opportunity to gauge my coaching abilities at the highest level.”
Serero’s exclusion aside, the squad was pretty much what most would have predicted – Mashaba having kept faith with most of the players who did duty in the qualifiers as well as taking along a few players he termed “prospectives” in the form of Bongani Zungu and Thamsaqa Sangweni.
SuperSport United’s Thuso Phala also got the nod, no doubt for his great form for his club towards the end of the year.
While the inclusion of Bernard Parker surprised, given that the Chiefs striker did not start playing until deep into the new season, Mashaba explained why: “As a country we’re bankrupt in the striking force. So we brought him (Parker) to help strengthen us,” he said of the experienced striker.
Not that he rates experience highly: “For me, experience is just a name we give our yesterday’s mistakes. Experience doesn’t guarantee us a win.”
Not even the fact that Bafana are in what most view as the tournament’s toughest group (alongside Algeria, Senegal and Ghana) seems to have Mashaba shaken.
“Have you bought coffins,” he asked Natasha Tsichlas, the Safa technical boss who chaired the conference.
“They talk of a group of death. I don’t know who is going to die. We’re definitely not going to die there. We’re going there to compete.” - The Star