SAFA technical scout and performance analyst Sinesipho Mali has weighed in on why, in recent years, many South African stars who go overseas return from abroad early.
South Africa has a rich history of exporting players overseas who become icons on foreign soil, with the likes of Benni McCarthy, Steven Pienaar and Lucas Radebe having all gone on to become cult heroe at some of their respective European clubs.
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McCarthy won the UEFA Champions League with Porto in 2004 before going on to make his mark in the Premier League; Pienaar went on become an Everton legend with more than 200 appearances for the club; and Radebe is immortalised in west Yorkshire, where he is considered one of Leeds United's greatest players of all time.
While Percy Tau remains the last South African to play in the English top flight and Lyle Foster having recently won promotion to the division with Burnley, it seems the country has taken a massive dip in producing long-lasting talent in some of Europe's biggest leagues.
This has sparked a lot of contentious debate around the topic, with some questioning whether or not the more recent generations of players have the mentality to follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned icons.
Mali, who has extensive experience working in SA's national team development structures as well as with Bafana Bafana, has provided an explanation as to why there is a notable rise in players returning from abroad relatively early in their careers.
"I feel that, as South Africans, we talk based on what we know in the country without considering other factors involved. Players come back for different reasons, whether it's football or family reasons," he told KickOff.
"The reality of the situation is that the economy of our country is so strong and competitive with some leagues in Europe.
"A player in the PSL, that has maybe 60-plus matches playing regularly for the top two clubs instead of being in Belgium or Portugal, can earn better, so where would they rather be?"
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Mali also argued that although Mzansi is on par with the likes of Senegal and Nigeria in terms of producing natural, technically gifted talent, there are key factors as to why central and western African regions seem to have an upper hand in this regard.
"Technically, there have never been doubts about our talent, but there are other elements that are fundamental in terms of preparing these players,"he continued.
"I always say that technique is an execution, not a decision, meaning that technique is closely linked with the technical elements of the game, which is making the right decision at the right time, reading space, and so forth.
"So the challenge we have is our players have this amazing technical ability but it is not enhanced until they are able to reach the next level.
"The problem becomes how our players are prepared to become high-performance footballers. We have to align ourselves with global trends in order to make these players.
"Players in west and central Africa get to Europe earlier than ours because they are desperate to get abroad due to a lack of resources in their countries.
"So, we are on par with them talent-wise but them arriving early overseas means they have a better pathway because they are trained in better development structures.
"Whereas with us, we do not get the top young talents abroad early enough in order for them to receive that high level of coaching and competition, which eventually helps them become competitive at the highest level. It's something we need to work on."
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