Yes�it is a national shame as Coach Butler says it is

Lawrence Ookeditse | Friday May 16, 2014 15:23

It seems clearer today, with some players snubbing Peter James Butler’s call up just because they were not called upon before.  Excuses like already having off season plans and preparing for trials in Europe are just that- excuses. Players across the world are setting aside their holiday plans and others to go play for their national teams.

These players must know that they do not own a national team place-they have no guarantee of being selected for reasons the gaffer may have at any given point in time. See, I admit that all these players have sacrificed for the Zebras over the years, but the players must also admit that they have gotten loads of recognition and exposure from playing for the national team. Some of them have been in the setup for the past 20 or so years- from the junior national teams onwards- this has been at the expense of fresh talent.

And to be quite honest, a hell lot of these players have brought us nothing but national shame- they have not risen to win anything to talk about. So, then what is wrong with a new manager coming in and believing he must give a chance to others to prove themselves? To rebuild the national team seeing it needs that?  Entitlement! That is the problem. It is as much a problem in football as it is about everything in this country- people tend to feel entitled to something, owed something so much that they feel they have a right to sulk when not selected into the national team or given something. This mentality permeates the ruled and rulers alike, decision makers as well as those whom decisions are being taken for.

This is the problem. Gino, Ohilwe, Fraiser and any other player in this country has no God given place in the national team. It is for them to prove their worthy to the tactics of the new manager. If at some stage the manager has other ideas he must implement those without fear that the next time he calls upon a player such a player will refuse the national call up.

This is partly national duty. This bunch of players has always complained about bonuses and conditions of camps and the likes. I have always sympathized with them for I know the conditions are far from what you’d want them to be. That’s okay. But you must also appreciate that other countries out there have far worse conditions yet the same have been able to perform at the highest level. Our boys though have not risen to the challenge- they always ask, but never give save for mere qualification for a single AFCON finals. None of them, none at all, should feel they have a right to demand anything of anyone as it is. It is not enough to simply say I sacrificed my time and body and risk getting injured- no, that is not the result we seek, we want these players to qualify for big tournaments and win those tournaments- once they’ve done that then we will say yes, they have delivered all they can and should. But they have not and as such have not earned a right to permanent places in the national team, nor to sulking when not selected.

These players must learn from people like Dipsy Selolwane, Captain Joel Mogorosi and Pontsho Moloi, the likes of Tummie Duiker too. These are people who gave to football so much of themselves. Getting on about their jobs with little sulking regardless of an omission for some games. These guys must know they are not Del Piero, they are not Cristiano Ronaldo and they are not Roy Keane who could rant at Mick McCarthy.

I like them make no mistake, but this attitude sucks. The national team is at the onset of a new era, with a new manager. The least each player could and should do is to let the coach know that he must proceed with his job and that whenever called upon they’ll honour the call up. No one owns a place in the Zebras setup and the fans must also make it clear they back the national team and its gaffer, not some players who are demonstrating a really bad attitude.