Cape Town - The time has come for the South African Football Association (SAFA) to show a greater measure of respect for the COSAFA Cup and use the competition to its advantage.
In the past, SAFA allowed the Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos to take a break during the COSAFA Cup tournament and assistant coach Helman Mkhalele was left to take charge of the national team.
There has never been an official explanation for giving Broos a break but, originally, he was deeply disheartened after the Premier Soccer League clubs would not release their players for national team duty.
Considering Bafana's sterling performance against Africa’s No 1, and No 11 world-ranked nation Morocco over the weekend, it will be good to sustain momentum by fielding a strong side and go on to winning the Southern African championship.
It is also time for SAFA to realise that its indifference towards the COSAFA Cup filters down to the clubs that have been anti-SAFA for many years.
Last season, the Bafana Bafana team was drawn mostly from the First Division ranks. There were a few players from the Premiership, but most of them had not played for months for various reasons.
These unfit players were more of a liability and Bafana lost to lowly sides like Madagascar and Mozambique in the group phase.
At the next tournament starting on July 5, there will again be sides that are ranked well below Bafana on the world rankings table. These countries include eSwatini, Botswana, Namibia, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, and Lesotho.
This tournament will allow Broos to carry on working with players like Bafana's new cap Bathusi Aubaas, who was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up against World Cup semi-finalist Morocco.
The TS Galaxy midfielder produced an impressive performance and will now be a sought-after player. Already he has become a transfer target of Orlando Pirates.
The same could be said about striker Zakhele Lepasa who thrived after a short working spell with Broos.
After Saturday's match, Lepasa could rank as Bafana's No 1 marksman.
The COSAFA Cup could also be an opportunity to select a few Kaizer Chiefs players like Yusuf Maart, Samkelo Zwane, Siyabonga Ngezana, Ashley du Preez and Mduduzi Shabalala. These are players who are highly capable but have not been consistent for Chiefs. The team's poor performances did not allow give them a platform to grow.
However, an experienced mentor like Broos could bring the best out of these players just like he did with Lepasa and Aubaas.
There were no Chiefs players in the latest national team squad and this should change because the national team needs the support of Chiefs fans.
By the time SAFA sits down to select the Cosafa Cup squad, the clubs will make it known that it cannot release players because squads are in the throes of pre-season training programmes.
This may be true, but players deserve the opportunity to showcase their talent to a wide audience. There will be an opportunity for players to increase their worth, just like with Lepasa and Aubaas.
If and when that happens TS Galaxy will be paid handsomely when Aubaas takes transfer, and the same with Pirates who could not find a place in their squad for Lepasa. Instead, they loaned him out.
@Herman_Gibbs
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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