Fish’s presence will inspire us – SA goalkeeper Keet

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Jun 13, 2019. 13:00

South Africa goalkeeper Darren Keet says the presence of 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning defender Mark Fish will serve as inspiration to the current generation of players.

Fish, who has no top-level coaching qualifications or experience, was surprisingly named as Bafana Bafana’s second assistant coach for the upcoming 2019 AFCON.

The 45-year-old is set to play a role as a scout of South Africa’s opposition at the finals in Egypt and will report to head coach Stuart Baxter.

Yet Keet insists that Fish’s presence‚ along with another 1996 campaigner‚ goalkeeper coach Andre Arendse‚ can inspire the current generation as they tackle a tough Group D which will see them face up to Morocco, Ivory Coast and Namibia.

“Ja‚ definitely. I mean obviously‚ he’s very inspirational to a lot of players‚” Keet said.

“I mean‚ all the players who won in that ’96 Nations Cup‚ we’ve all looked up to them since we’ve started. Most of them are probably the reason some of us play today.

“And Mark Fish and Andre Arendse are no different. Having them with their experience any time you want to talk to them about it makes it easier.

“On top of that our coaching staff are very easy to get along with‚ very easy to talk to. And when you need information‚ we talk to them and they talk to us.

“Overall I think we have a good technical team‚ and we look forward to some exciting times.”

Bafana Bafana will open their 2019 AFCON campaign with a clash against Ivory Coast in Cairo on June 24.