Santos boost for Bafana

By Rodney Reiners

Santos captain Edries Burton is back in the national soccer squad and he paid tribute to his teammates for his good fortune.

Burton was on Thursday named in the 22-man Bafana Bafana squad to play Ecuador in a friendly international in Spain on Wednesday, April 17.

The tough central defender's call-up is a direct result of Santos being just a few points away from winning the Premier League championship.

A few weeks ago, when new head coach Jomo Sono announced his first Bafana squad, not a single Santos player was named. It caused a major furore. Here was a club consistent throughout the season, yet none of their players, not even Andre Arendse, the best goalkeeper in the country, could make the cut. Sono has apparently heeded the criticism and both Arendse and Burton, who has been an integral part of Santos's success over the past two seasons, have been included.

"It's a huge shock," said Burton. "At my age, I thought I would never get back in the national squad."

Burton will be 34 in December. He has one Bafana cap. He played the full 90 minutes in a Four Nations Cup match against Kenya in September 1996, a match won 1-0 by South Africa.

"Most importantly," said Burton, "this Bafana call-up is for my Santos teammates. Without them, it would never have happened. I have only benefited from the success of the team."

While Burton deserves national recognition, irrespective of his age, Sono has, of course, been handing out Bafana caps to every Tom, Dick and Harry playing in the Premier League.

With the World Cup in Korea and Japan just 55 days away, Sono has continued to experiment, and twelve new, untried players were introduced in his first three matches in charge. Bafana lost 1-0 to Saudi Arabia, 4-1 to Georgia and then embarrassingly scraped through on penalties against lowly Botswana in the Cosafa Cup.

On Thursday, Sono added even more new names: Sipho Nunens, Lucky Sibeko, Siphiwe Mkhonza and Pitso Lekone. Stanton Fredericks and Tony Coyle have been named before but are yet to play. But, if Sono is so intent on finding new talent to take to the World Cup, then he need look no further than Nashief Morris and Gabriel Mofokeng, two youngsters he has completely ignored.

Morris, 20, the former Santos central defender, has been making great strides at FC Aris in Greece, while Mofokeng, 21, is on the fringes of making the Ajax Amsterdam first team in Holland.

Mofokeng and Steven Pienaar were the inspiration behind the Ajax Amsterdam reserve team making the semifinals of the Dutch Cup where they lost to Utrecht.

Pienaar was rewarded with a call-up to Ajax's first team and subsequently named in Sono's Bafana squads. Mofokeng is not too far off Pienaar in terms of progress and deserves a run at rightback or right midfield; he is streets ahead of Pirates' Mbulelo Old-John, who was again exposed when the Buccaneers lost 1-0 to Santos on Wednesday night.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Andre Arendse (Santos), Emille Baron (Lillestr¿m FC, Norway). Defenders: Hilton Jordaan, Thabang Molefe (both Jomo Cosmos), Siphiwe Mkhonza (Ria Stars), Cyril Nzama (Chiefs), Tony Coyle (Wits), Edries Burton (Santos), Mbulelo Old-John (Pirates), Brett Evans (Ajax Cape Town), David Kannemeyer (Kaizer Chiefs). Midfielders: Sipho Nunens (Sundowns), Thabo Mngomeni (Pirates), McBeth Sibaya (Cosmos), Stanton Fredericks (Chiefs), Josta Dladla (Wits), Steven Pienaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Lucky Sibeko (Arrows), Pitso Lekone (FS Stars), McDonald Mukansi (Chernomorets Bourgas, Bulgaria). Strikers: Abram Raselemane (Supersport), Glen Salmon (NAC Breda, Netherlands)