“Goalscorers, I don’t know where they are but they are nowhere to be found. We need to get them, they are not there.”
BAFANA Bafana boss, Molefi Ntseki, is set to announce his squad to face Sao Tome and Principe in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers tomorrow.
But the key question is who will he call to lead the attack for the senior national team?
Former Bafana assistant coach, Steve Komphela, feels for Ntseki because of a lack of natural goalscorers in the country.
Back in the days, the likes of Clive Barker, Jomo Sono and Trott Moloto were spoiled for choice in terms of strikers to choose from.
But that is not the case in the current generation according to Komphela.
“Goalscorers, I don’t know where they are but they are nowhere to be found. We need to get them, they are not there.
“At Chiefs who are the strikers? They are all foreign (Leonardo Castro, Samir Nurkovic, Khama Billiat and Lazarus Nkambole) except (Lebo) Manyama. Orlando Pirates are led by a foreigner (Gabadinho Mhango).
“At Bidvest Wits, it is Gift Motupa but the coach (Gavin Hunt) was complaining that he has scored only two goals. At SuperSport United there’s Bradley Grobler,” Komphela added.
Percy Tau, Lebo Mothiba and Grobler are likely to lead the frontline for Bafana when they look to collect six points against Sao Tome.
“Then you had (the late) Phil Masinga, Duncan Crowie and Mark Williams. I don’t want to talk about the likes of Fani Madida. You were spoilt for choice. You had Shaun Bartlett, it was strikers all over. Where are these strikers?
“He (Ntseki) is going to suffer because he has got a qualifier and he doesn’t have a striker or he gets a striker from a modest team where he is not used to (playing under) pressure. He identifies the player and goes to the national team and the pressure there is immense,” he added.
The Premier Soccer League top scorer is Mhango with 14 goals. He is followed by Bongi Ntuli of AmaZulu and Grobler of SuperSport.
“If you bring a player from Mamelodi Sundowns, Chiefs or Pirates where there’s pressure you have a better chance.
“If you bring a Steve Komphela playing for ABC United who are position nine or 10 because he scores and then he goes there and the pressure is immense.
“He is going to be under pressure from the fans from Sundowns, Chiefs and Pirates. He has to withstand that.
“That’s the nature of the national team. We don’t have that and we need to have them,” Komphela stated.
