BAFANA Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter has a lot to think about if he wants to turn the national team’s fortunes around – a firm decision that might win him the hearts of all South Africans.
There is a shining diamond at Bloemfontein Celtic ready to bring some sparkle to Bafana who have been firing blanks for a while, resulting in the national team becoming somewhat of a laughing stock on the continent.
Tshegofatso Mabaso is the young, determined centre-forward who scored two goals in the space of five minutes on Saturday to break the hearts of high-flying Bidvest Wits as Celtic ran out 2-1 winners following their Absa Premiership clash in Milpark.
Making things even easier for Baxter Mabaso, at 22, is within the age limit for Safa’s Vision 2022.
He played for Bafana last year when they were knocked out of the 2018 African Nations Championship qualifiers by Zambia following a 4-2 loss on aggregate.
With Mabaso having scored five goals for his side in 10 matches this season, Baxter has a gem at his disposal and should seriously be considering deploying the talented player as a weapon against giants like Nigeria.
Bafana face Nigeria in the return leg of their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
It is actually very surprising that the youngster from Botshabelo in the Free State has been ignored for so long as he has been hammering in the goals for Celtic since his arrival in 2014.
Although Saturday’s goals were only the first brace of his career, the diminutive giant believes he can contribute immensely to Bafana’s growth if given a chance.
He was the top scorer in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge two seasons ago with 12 goals, and believes he can repeat the same feat with Celtic’s senior team this term.
“Playing for Bafana is something that has to happen automatically based on a player’s performance,” he said.
“Scoring two goals against Wits makes me feel happy. It was actually a team effort and collecting three points is great for the team.”
Mabaso’s dream is to further his career playing for an English Premiership club and he believes “it will happen if I continue working hard”.
