Van Neel’s Bafana call-up reward for form and long-term tracking, says Dladla

Golden Arrows coach Pitso Dladla believes Bafana Bafana manager Pitso Mosimane and his technical team had been monitoring Ronaldo Van Neel before the striker joined the club, helping explain his inclusion in the national team’s preliminary squad.

Van Neel moved to Abafana Bes’thende from Hungry Lions at the start of the campaign after an outstanding season in which he finished as the league’s leading scorer with 13 goals.

The forward is still adapting to his new surroundings, according to Dladla, but the Golden Arrows coach expects Van Neel to make a significant contribution as the season progresses.

Dladla said Van Neel’s selection also demonstrated the value of having a locally based national team coach. He believes Mosimane and his staff are able to follow players over a longer period, including their performances before they move to a new club.

“That’s what is good about having a local national team coach because coach Pitso and his technical team didn’t just start to know Ronaldo Van Neel here at Arrows,” he said.

“I’m sure if you can talk to them, they will tell you that know him and they have been following him. For us as a team, we know what Ronaldo is capable of, he’s still settling, he hasn’t adapted fully.

“I promise you once he acclimatise, you’ll see more of him. But it’s pleasing to seem him in that squad. We have many talented players, we have Gasa, Philani Khumalo, Sithole and etc.

Dladla also challenged the rest of the Golden Arrows squad to match Van Neel’s ambition and form if they want to attract attention from Bafana Bafana.

“But as I said that as long as they play well and have ambitions. The likes of Aya Maxwele, Zwane, Shezi is one of the best right-backs in the country. They must be ambitious.

The coach then reflected on the players who have missed out because of injury. He said Jiyane’s absence was particularly unfortunate, along with Mabaso’s, and suggested Jiyane could have been included in Mosimane’s squad had he remained fit.

“With Jiyane, it’s so unfortunate that he got injured together with Mabaso. But I just believe that if Jiyane was injury-free, he could have gotten a national team call-up. Last season, he was one of the best centre-backs.”

Van Neel’s arrival at Golden Arrows followed his prolific campaign with Hungry Lions, where his 13-goal return made him the league’s top scorer. Dladla’s comments indicate that the striker’s opportunity with Bafana Bafana is being viewed not only as recognition of his current form, but also as the outcome of sustained observation by Mosimane and his technical team.

Although Van Neel has yet to fully settle at Golden Arrows, Dladla expects the attacker’s influence to grow once he has acclimatised to the club. He also pointed to the wider pool of talent at the team, including Gasa, Philani Khumalo, Sithole, Aya Maxwele, Zwane and Shezi, while highlighting the potential claims of the injured Jiyane and Mabaso.