The omission of Bafana Bafana's all-time leading goal-scorer, Benni McCarthy, from the squad to play Serbia has again raised eyebrows, writes iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane.

With striker Benni McCarthy publicly declaring his desire to play for his country in the 2010 World Cup, many believed that Bafana coach Joel Santana would give the controversial, but talented, player another chance, but it was not to be.

Instead, Santana and his technical team have called up Golden Arrows striker Richard Henyekane in what many view as an effort to find a man who will lead the Bafana attack in 2010.

The onus is now on Henyekane to stake his claim and to prove to the nation that he is able to carry his Absa Premiership goal-scoring prowess into the national team.

But, whether or not Henyekane succeeds is not the issue. What is, however, is whether or not Santana can afford to play in the World Cup without proven goal-scorer in his squad.

Discipline aside, there is no question over Benni's goal-poaching skills, but with Santana known for his tough stance on undisciplined players one cannot rule out the possibility of Benni's omission from squad.

After all, Benni has made the same promise before that he will mend his ways and be dedicated to Bafana, only to return to his old ways of choosing which games he wants to play. Santana can, therefore, be forgiven for not buying into the player's 'I'm a changed man' stance.

With only nine months to go before the World Cup, Santana has two choices. The first one is to stick with Benni despite his wayward ways or to try to mould a prolific striker in time for 2010.

My suggestion is to stick with Benni because with only a couple of friendlies left before the World Cup, Santana will find it hard to unearth a goal-scorer prior to this major event.

With all eyes firmly on the hosts, Santana can ill afford to take an inexperienced strike force to the World Cup and hope for the best.

Therefore, it is in the best interest of not only Santana, but of the country as whole that Benni is recalled to the national team.

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