Durban — Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Jethren Barr has challenged Premier Soccer League clubs to hand more opportunities to local goalkeepers as the all-around standards continue to drop.
The former Maritzburg United shot-stopper has been plying his trade in Northern Ireland with Portadown, but has since departed the club following their relegation to the second division.
Now, in the Bafana camp in the Cosafa Cup, Barr has played the opening two matches at the tournament as he appears to be the preferred candidate for coach Morena Ramoreboli.
The Bidvest Wits academy graduate has submitted his opinion regarding the continuous criticism of a deteriorating goalkeeping culture in the country.
The 27-year-old has revealed that the nation harbours a lot of good goal-minders who are continuously overlooked for foreign imports which in effect compromises the overall standards of goalkeeping in the country.
“I think to a certain extent (they are dropping) if the goalkeepers are not playing enough, the levels are always going to drop,” he told IOL Sport.
He further explained: “As I've said before, you have a lot of foreigners coming into the league that's taking away a lot of game time from our local-based goalkeepers.”
“It's not to say we don't have goalkeepers, I believe South Africa has a lot of talented goalkeepers but they need that confidence and chance to play matches and if they're getting one or two games in a season then it's not going to help anyone.”
Of the 16 DStv Premiership sides, eight clubs have South African-born keepers as their unmovable number ones.
Bafana Captain Ronwen Williams continues to be the flag bearer for South Africa following an impressive season in the colours of Mamelodi Sundowns, earning the Goalkeeper of the Year accolade and being nominated for the Footballer of the Season.
Barr and his teammates that are currently involved in the Cosafa Cup have expressed a common desire to grab the attention of regular Bafana Head Coach Hugo Broos as the countdown begins to the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
“Yes I hope he’s watching because that's what everyone here wants,” he said.
“I don't think there's a single player here that doesn't dream of playing for Bafana Bafana. I know for me personally, that's been my biggest dream and that's why I talk about it even on social media and I tell the guys here that this is the biggest badge I've ever played for in my life.”
Bafana is hard at work preparing for their last group stage match against Eswatini on Tuesday.
IOL Sport