Former Bafana Bafana defender Nasief Morris believes that South Africa has few players in the European leagues because the current generation lacks ambition.
- Morris is not impressed by the mentality of the current South African players
- The former Bafana defender believes that the PSL stars are afraid of testing themselves
- South Africa has only one player in Europe’s top five leagues
WHAT HAPPENED? Morris, a former center back for Panathinaikos and Racing Santander, accused the current generation of South African players of feeling too comfortable playing at home, unlike in previous years when he played.
Morris believes this is due to a fear of trying themselves abroad with many fearing to even start in the lower leagues, contributing to the low number of players from the country currently playing in Europe’s top leagues.
South Africa has close to 50 players in Europe but a large number feature in the lower leagues with only Strasbourg’s Lebo Mothiba playing in one of the top five leagues, and Morris believes the status quo will not change unless players get out of their leagues. comfort zones. .
WHAT DID HE SAY? “The mentality of the players [isn’t good]Morris said on the sidelines of the Nedbank Cup last 32 draw, as quoted by Sowetan Live.
“Nowadays, everyone feels comfortable in South Africa. Today’s gamers don’t want to set higher goals.
“I mean, if I look back at our generation, we used to aim for big things and we didn’t want to play in SA, we wanted to play in Europe against the best in the world. Those were dreams we set for ourselves.” and we achieve those dreams Today, there is too much comfort.
“Them [today’s generation] they don’t want to challenge themselves and they don’t want to put themselves in a shopping window, whether it’s just a small country in Europe, where you put yourself in the window and you can be exposed and have the chance of a bigger club.
“Like, I mean, I played in Greece for a small team and I was snatched by one of the big teams in Greece and I ended up in La Liga. [in Spain] after that it’s all about what you want and do for yourself at the end of the day.
“You’re making a couple hundred thousand [rand] and you just think you don’t need to go for more. Sometimes the amount of salary you can get here is the same as what you can get in the little European leagues, but it’s about challenging yourself to be seen by the rest of Europe.”
THE LARGEST PHOTOGRAPH: Only a handful of overseas-based players make it to the Bafana Bafana squad for various assignments with Percy Tau, one of South Africa’s biggest names, now playing in Egypt after failing to make the grade in Europe.
The lack of players with “European experience” has also been cited as one of the reasons why the national team struggles against Ghana and Morocco, which are packed with stars plying their trade in Europe’s top leagues.
WHATS NEXT? Morris’ sentiments are likely to elicit mixed reactions from various South African football stakeholders.
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