In this week's edition of 'In the hotseat', Bafana Bafana and Moroka Swallows midfielder Lefa Tsutsulupa calls on Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to ditch the defensive style and bring back the South African style of play.

Speaking exclusively to iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane, the Swallows skipper also shares his views about his omission from the national squad.

Q&A with Lefa Tsutsulupa!

Khaya Ndubane (KN): What's do you think of Bafana Bafana's display against Japan on Saturday?

Lefa Tsutsulupa (LT): "To be honest I was not pleased with Bafana at all, but I was happy with the commitment shown by the players. It seems as if the will to play for the country is back again and it was nice to see that."

KN: Who are the players that stood up for you on the day?

LT: "Like I said their performance was not what I expected, especially at home, so it's really difficult to single out top performers when the team did not play well. But having said that, I was happy to see Benni McCarthy back in the national team. Even though he did not score, you could sense that his presence in the team brought a lot of confidence, especially the youngsters."

KN: Speaking of Benni, he received a lot of criticism from the media because of his weight. Do you think that this criticism was justified?

LT: "It was justified in some sense because everyone can see that Benni has picked up a lot of weight, but that is expected when you consider the fact that he is not playing regularly at Blackburn. But Benni has about seven months to shed some kilos and there is no question that a fit Benni can be devastating for any team. Just give him time to sort out his weight and then you will see the results afterwards."

KN: Benni is not the only player who received a slack from the media; Teko Modise also received one as well...

LT: "As for Teko I don't think the criticism was justified as everyone knows that a player goes through that bad phase and I'm confident that Teko will find his form soon. A combination of Teko, Shabba (Siphiwe Tshabalala) and Schillo (Steven Pienaar) can be deadly on any team."

KN: But these are all attacking midfielders and Parreira favours the more cautious approach...

LT: "But what has that approach brought us? Nothing. Instead we are the laughing stock of world football. Joel Santana tried this approach and it did not work; it cost him his job in the end. My advice to Parreira is that he must do away with this style and implement a more attacking style of play. After all, this is our way of play. We have lost our identity and it needs to be re-installed!"

KN: Your omission from the squad raised some eyebrows, with many saying you should have been included. What?s your view on this?

LT: "Look, every coach has his own kind of players and I have made peace with the fact that maybe I don't feature in his plans. I will continue to work hard though and maybe I will convince Parreira in the end."

KN: Which other players do you feel should be playing for Bafana?

LT: "Look, Parreira can only choose a certain number of players, but I do feel that Dikgang Mabalane of Orlando Pirates should have been included in the team. He has been doing well for Pirates since he arrived there from Jomo Cosmos, but maybe the fact that he plays as winger has disadvantaged him a little because the previous coach did not favour wing play. I'm not sure about Parreira's style, but if he does use wing play I do think he should consider Dikgang."

KN: Lefa, thanks for your and good luck on your quest to force your way back into the Bafana fold.

LT: "Thanks Khaya, it is every player's dream to play for his country in the World Cup and I'm no different."