Bafana Bafana have lost their spark, former coach Clive Barker said this week.
He has lost hope after their recent Afcon 2017 qualifiers results.
Shakes Mashaba’s team went down to a shock 3-1 scoreline to Mauritania last weekend, making their chances of qualifying for the competition pretty difficult.
Barker, who led the team to continental glory at the FNB Stadium in 1996 featuring the likes of the late John “Shoes” Moshoeu, Helman Mkhalele, Mark Williams, Phil Masinga to mention a few, said the national team have lost it.
”The last four competitions, I think Gordon (Igesund) lost two in a row. Shakes has lost one or two in a row. It is crazy; I’m not quite sure what is going on anymore.
“We have to look at ourselves and find answers very quickly,” said Barker.
“The players in 1996 went overseas; Africa was the oyster for Europe.
“South Africa was the Europe of Africa and all of a sudden it’s all gone. Because they (European teams) have now found there is a bigger oyster, there is Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal.
“As Southern African countries, we have to really take a look at ourselves. There must be something wrong.
“I mean you can’t do it right two years after democracy, and do it wrong now.
“I think the biggest problem is that back then, we had the direction of playing European style, which was a big feature because of all the English coaches who had graced our country.
“And of-course, the flair of our players was the biggest element of our game,” he added.
Barker was speaking at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, were he is an ambassador for the Copa Coca-Cola SABU camp for youngsters.
He lamented the development of players in the country, saying it is critical for kids to be nurtured by the right coaches, so that they grow up to be exceptional players.
“If you got these kids here not being coached by a very good coach, they will never develop.
“That is why it is vital to identify the right coaches.”
Barker went on to reflect on the game, and said it seemed like it mattered more to other African countries than Bafana Bafana.
“The kid who scored the last goal was magnificent.
“He went inside, outside, cut through the middle, composure and lobbed the ball.
“From the start of the game they looked like they wanted a goal, wanted to win and wanted to play better than us.”
Looking at the way forward, Barker said strict measures have to be taken when appointing coaches and one should not consider appointing friends in the technical team.
“You got to be pretty ruthless. No jobs for pals.
“You can’t bring somebody who has never won anything to the team and expect him to help us. What is he going to do?
“If I have somebody coaching, but who has never won anything, how is he going to turn around to the players and say this is the way to win?” - Saturday Star