Bafana still need Benni and Bhele, says Igesund

ON THE day Bafana Bafana dropped two places in the Fifa rankings, Moroka Swallows coach Gordon Igesund lashed out at the national team selections.

Igesund, who has won four Premier League titles with different teams, yesterday urged Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane to put his "pride" aside and pick veteran strikers Siyabonga Nomvethe and Benni McCarthy.

The Dube Birds coach believes the two forwards can restore team confidence and score winning goals if they are brought back to Bafana.

Both players are 34 years old, have 79 Bafana caps each and have scored 47 goals between them.

While Nomvethe has netted nine goals in 18 matches for Swallows this season, McCarthy's tally in the league for Orlando Pirates is five goals in eight games - two of them crucial in Bucs' victories.

In the Fifa rankings released yesterday, Bafana continued to plunge in world football by dropping a further two places from 58th to 60th. They maintained their 10th spot in the African rankings.

The drop in Fifa rankings comes after yet another draw. Neither side could score a goal at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban last week when they played Senegal, a team made up mostly of that country's Under-23 players.

"Who is the top goal-scorer in the Premier League this season?" asked Igesund yesterday.

"Nomvethe has scored nine goals (tied with Bafana's leading man Katlego Mphela) this season and continues to work harder in every game. That's all I've got to say really."

But he then had more to say. "McCarthy (Bafana's all-time top goal-scorer with 31 strikes) not only has a record of scoring goals, but he is doing it in the league this season," Igesund continued.

"Why not call these guys in and let them get a couple of goals to bring back the confidence for the other guys in the team? And then take it from there."

Bafana have now gone eight games without a win. Their last victory was against Burkina Faso in August.

"By now the (Bafana) players have been told they can't score and I think they are starting to believe it," said Igesund.

After Bafana's draw against Senegal, Mosimane refused to discuss the possibility of bringing back the two strikers. The coach said that he was building for the future.

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