Johannesburg - It is unlikely he will start ahead of favourite Thamsanqa Gabuza, but not only does striker Eleazar Rodgers give Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba options upfront, he may even be a breath of fresh air on the bench this Saturday based on his opinions in solving the goal-scoring drought in the national team.
The Bidvest Wits player yesterday gave his honest - albeit brief - assessment on the scoring conundrum ahead of Bafana’s crucial opening 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou. The lack of goals for the senior men’s team has been a trending topic for a number of weeks now.
Rodgers certainly doesn’t have all the answers, but he weighed in on what could be the solution. He scored one goal in between Daine Klate’s double to help Wits clinch the MTN8 title.
“I think there is always some sort of pressure that goes with scoring goals, but as strikers it is our role to go and get them. Sometimes pressure is good for you and as professionals we need to turn that pressure into composure and help Bafana,” explained Rodgers.
“We do create opportunities, and the coach has said this before. We just need a strong mentality. I think sometimes we miss the easy ones and score the difficult ones. It comes down to being at the right place at the right time. Yes, we do want to score fancy goals because we can play good football. We have the quality. But sometimes it’s not about the good goals, but getting the vital goals, and they can come as scrappy as they did for me at the weekend. And, you know, it brings the results.”
Another one of Mashaba’s arguments was that Premier Soccer League clubs were not at all helpful having decided to rely heavily on foreign strikers to lead their attack. Last season’s top scorers charts had an overwhelming majority of non-South Africans as Zambian Collins Mbesuma clinched the Golden Boot award with 14 goals, the Bafana coach has said in the past.
Rodgers, however, feels it should only serve as inspiration. He was asked for his thoughts on the growing list of foreign strikers making an impact in the PSL, and his response was refreshing.
“It’s a difficult question, but to me a player (striker) is good if he is scoring goals. It doesn’t matter whether he is South African or not. We just need to learn from that because in our league we have a lot of foreign players scoring goals, but that should only help us become better,” said a man who has only ever made a single appearance for Bafana. He added: “Maybe we have to prove ourselves a bit more and work a lot harder on bringing the success to the national team.”
Rodgers, 31, has been thrust into the limelight following his move to Wits at the start of the season and, although he has only managed two goals in seven matches from two domestic competitions so far, his impact has obviously been felt. His return to the national team comes four years since his last call-up in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia.
“I have always known that I will get a chance to play for my country again,” he said. “Obviously this time it came a lot quicker, so I was surprised. I thought I would have been selected a while back, but there were reasons for that and I am not here today to discuss those.”
Meanwhile, Bafana coach Mashaba confirmed that defender Rivaldo Coetzee has been withdrawn from the squad because of a hamstring injury and has been replaced by Platinum Stars centre-back Isaac Nhlapho. Ramahlwe Mphahlele also suffered an ankle sprain in a league match for his club Kaizer Chiefs last week, but the Bafana medical team are confident he will be fit to face Burkina Faso on Saturday (Kick-off is 8pm SA time).
@superjourno
@extrastrongsa
The Star