OPINION: The toxic support for Bafana Bafana needs to stop

Some South African football fans have become increasingly fractured when it comes to supporting Bafana Bafana. Maybe I am being polite, toxic is probably the more accurate word to describe the kind of support the national team receives from sections of its own fan base. Counting how many Bafana players are at your club is just lazy The obsession with counting how many players come from a particular club and then using those numbers to judge the make-up of the national team is just lazy. All that matters far more than club affiliation is whether the players selected can perform and deliver when they represent their country. I have no problem with supporters questioning the selection of players on merit, because that is a fair and sensible debate to have. However, looking at the Bafana squad primarily through the lens of club affiliation is backward thinking. Every national team coach has players he trusts and believes can contribute to the team, and sometimes those players offer qualities that go beyond what they produce during 90 minutes on the pitch. It is simply the nature of football, and supporters have every right to question the selection of Mamelodi Sundowns veteran midfielder Themba Zwane when he is not a regular starter for his club. Pitso Mosimane has his reasons for selecting Zwane, particularly because of the leadership and experience he brings to the group, as well as the standards he can help establish within the national team camp. England coach Thomas Tuchel has also recognised the importance of experienced players, with Jordan Henderson and John Stones having been part of his thinking around leadership and the wider demands of international football. This brings me back to my main point, it should not matter how many players Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs or any other club has in the Bafana squad. Once those players walk onto the pitch wearing the national team shirt, their responsibility is to represent South Africa rather than their respective clubs. So what if Sundowns have 13 players in the national team? They are currently one of the teams competing at the highest level on the continent, which means their players are regularly exposed to demanding matches and high-level competition. If those players are considered good enough to help Bafana succeed, it should not become the main talking point and the same principle applies to other clubs It’s natural Successful teams will naturally have more players competing for places in national squads, particularly when they are consistently challenging for major trophies and playing at the highest level. We have seen this before at international level, with Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning squad containing eight players from Barcelona, while their more recent World Cup success also had the same number of Barca players and none from Real Madrid. The reality is that successful teams will often have a strong presence in national squads, and in the case of Bafana Bafana, Sundowns are currently one of the strongest teams on the African continent. Supporters should be rallying behind them as one team rather than allowing club rivalries to divide the support for the national team.