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Shakes' U-turn can only be good for Bafana

Thulani Serero missed the match against Vitesse Arnhem at the weekend. Picture Credit: Getty Images
Thulani Serero missed the match against Vitesse Arnhem at the weekend. Picture Credit: Getty Images

I have known Shakes Mashaba as a man of his word - defiant to the core and uncompromising.

So when Danny Jordaan and the Safa leadership announced a few weeks ago that overseas-based Bafana Bafana players May Mahlangu, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Thulani Serero and Ayanda Patosi should be reconsidered for national team selection, I expected Mashaba to make a big fuss.

After all, he had done it before. In 2003 he vowed to omit the likes of Benni McCarthy, Quinton Fortune and Shaun Bartlett from his squads after they had failed to pitch for some qualifiers. Lo and behold, they suddenly became available for a high-profile friendly against England.

Mashaba didn't budge and, sadly, it didn't end well for him as he was removed as coach for that game.

Ahead of the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Tunisia, Mashaba issued a demand for overseas-based players to report early for camp.

This triggered a flurry of "retirements" from the national team, prompting his Safa bosses to brand him "inflexible". He was then fired on the eve of the finals, unable to guide a team he had led so impressively in the qualifying. It was a shattering blow to see him yelling "give me my job back" as he left a Johannesburg court, which had vindicated him in his fight with Safa.

He didn't get his job back, instead it was only seven months ago that he returned to the Bafana hot seat after that tumultuous period.

For some time it seemed Mashaba hadn't changed, that he would continue to use the very approach that made him appear an obstinate, unreasonable character.

His handling of the Serero saga, when he dropped him from this year's final Afcon squad on the basis that the Ajax Amsterdam midfielder had been in the country but didn't bother to report for camp, was puzzling. Serero had been given a different date to report for camp.

But it was not Mashaba who "banned" Mahlangu from the national team, it was actually Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble who tweeted on November 11: "National team call up is not an invite. May [Mahlangu] will not be called for any national team in future. Finish and klaar!"

Yesterday, as Mashaba announced his squad for this month's friendlies against Swaziland and Nigeria, it was refreshing to see Serero, Patosi, Mokotjo and Mahlangu (although injured) all named in the side.

Of course, some will read that as a sign of his timidity, allowing his employers at Safa to dictate team selection.

But for me, it shows that he's a changed man. He can listen to another view and doesn't believe his word is sacrosanct, like before. This can only be good for Bafana.

A situation where talented players are pushed out of the national side, based on flimsy reasons (as was the case with Serero) is self-defeating for a country with obvious limitations such as ours.

I'm happy to see Mashaba being this flexible, understanding that Bafana's revitalisation can only be achieved through pulling together, not egocentricism.

Having shown this maturity and diplomacy, Mashaba has done his bit. It's up to the said players to prove they deserve to return to the national side. If they succeed on that front, there's only one winner - Bafana.

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