It's very nice to hear Benni McCarthy talking about his commitment to Bafana Bafana, but that will come down to nothing if the striker doesn?t get into shape soon. iafrica.com?s Khaya Ndubane pens an open letter to the Bafana star.

Thousands of soccer fans descended into the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth Stadium on Saturday to see you Mr McCarthy, to watch you 'doing what you do best and that is to score goals', but instead they saw a pumpkin-shaped Benni who failed to threaten the Japanese defence.

You were duly substituted midway through the second half by the coach, much to the delight of the Bafana fans who must have thought they were mistakenly watching a rugby game ? after all you looked more like a rugby player than a soccer player.

It's unbelievable that a soccer player who plays in the English Premiership ? one of the toughest leagues in the world ? can look like that.

You had the nerve to attack Blackburn strikers in the media following your return to the national team, saying 'I'm better than the strikers they have at Blackburn'. That may be true sir, but tell me what coach in his right mind will field a lazy player when there are committed, and fit players, at his disposal.

It's clear that you are not at hitting the training ground at Blackburn, and you are certainly not fighting for your place in the starting line-up as you would have us believe. After all, your body shape tells us a different story to the one you are currently regaling us with.

Maybe someone needs to remind you, sir, that at your age you need to play more matches because as you know opportunities tend to dry up as you grow older. Before you know it you will join the list of the 'has beens'. Soon people will forget that you were once a prolific goal-scorer as good young strikers come into the fold.

Next year's World Cup presents you, Mr McCarthy, with the opportunity to leave a permanent mark by leading Bafana to the second round of the World Cup - a first for South Africa. But at the rate that you are currently going I doubt if you will even make the final squad for this event.

A friendly reminder to you sir is that you have only seven months to get into shape, and while that might seem like plenty of time, it is not.

As you know, it takes a lot of effort and time to gain fitness, but it takes just few days to lose it. Best you do something now before it's too late because we need your experience and goal poaching skills if we are to do well in the World Cup.

Don't let us down, Mr McCarthy!

  • What do you think of Benni's current state of fitness? Do you think he still got what it takes to play the international football? Let us know what YOU think!