Chaine: Bafana Bafana stars hungry to restore national pride

JOHANNESBURG - It is a Bafana Bafana tale as old as time. Two phenomenal goalkeepers, playing at the peak of their powers at club level but when it comes to the national team, there can only be one representative.

For Itumeleng Khune, his contender to the throne was Senzo Meyiwa, while for Ronwen Williams, he has Sipho Chaine to contend with.

On paper, it may seem like a battle that may cause division, but in camp, there is no competition.

“I haven’t always been the number one,” Chaine tells Eyewitness News about having to play second fiddle for the national team.

“I think for the last three years, this is the fourth year now, it’s the first time in my entire career that I become the person that is constantly playing for their football club. The role that I am in is a role that I understand very well. It is a role where you try to push to play, but you are not playing.”

His comments come after a season in which the Orlando Pirates shot stopper claimed the 2024/25 Betway Goalkeeper of the Season award.

While he revels in thathonour, he is aware of what is required of him when he dons the green and gold of Bafana.

“For me, I take it upon myself that if I am not playing and somebody else is playing, they are not responsible for where I am,” he reflected.

“That is just my mindset about the whole thing. For me to be playing alongside Ronwen…Ronwen is my mentor. To be doing the things that he has done over the last couple of years and what he is doing now, for me, is extra special. I can only improve, and I can only learn from what he does.

“He is 33 this year, and I am just turning 29, and for me to be saying things, I want to play, it’s not the space that you want to be in when you come into the national team and whatever is happening around it. He is the captain of the nation. He is the one that leads us, and I am there to help him get better. And I think that is the best thing I can ever do for myself.”

There is an abundance of talent within the goalkeeping department for Hugo Broos to pick from, with Ricardo Goss also called up for the team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria during the ongoing international break.

Speaking of the relationship between the trio, Chaine said their aim is to lift Bafana higher and not seek personal glory.

“How do you write yourself in the history books? I think whatever happens with the national team, it’s just 23 players that represent the nation. When you qualify for a World Cup, its 23 players that help Bafana Bafana qualify for a Fifa World Cup,” he said of the current crop of players who are seeking to qualify the national team for a first global tournament since South Korea in 2002.

“Personally, I have gotten over the fact that they should sing your my name, and you saved the nation, and you played, etc. I think it’s far beyond that. The change that we are going to see in the country, and whatever we are facing, is not a change that you are going to take upon your shoulders, that you played a football game. But the change that we are going to see is just a group of players that came together and made South Africa a better nation, in football terms.”

What he does hope for is that the goalkeepers’ performances at the club level pave the way for sustained success for Bafana.

“I think all the young boys in South Africa know who Ronwen Williams, Sipho Chaine and Ricardo Goss are and for me personally, it’s not just people shouting my name because I play for the national team, it’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is to create a legacy around the national team. To get back the pride that Bafana Bafana used to have. To qualify for a first World Cup in 20-odd years. That’s the most important thing.”

Chaine’s growth over the last few years was appreciated by Bloemfontein fans, who sang for him at the conclusion of Friday’s 2-0 win over Lesotho.

The Free State-born shot stopper admits hearing his anthem sung out loud left him speechless.

“I don’t think I can express it… it is truly special for me,” Chaine reflected on the moment that saw hundreds of supporters dressed in green and white singing his name.

“I used to watch that happen to a lot of football players, not even from Bloemfontein, but from outside. To be sitting in the stands and watching somebody else being sung for and then to come home a couple of years later and that happens to you, I am honoured. It’s extra special to be back in my hometown.”

Emotions will have to be set aside one more time for Chaine and the rest of his teammates as they take on Nigeria in their 8th qualifier of Group C.

A win for South Africa in the clash at the Free State Stadium would be enough for them to secure a first World Cup appearance since hosting the event in 2010.

“We realize how big it is, not just for ourselves as players, but as a nation, to qualify for a World Cup,” the 28-year-old said of the showdown against the Super Eagles.

“2010 was our World Cup, and to qualify for a FIFA World Cup… The first in 20-odd years, it’s going to be extra special. For us as football players, we are just focused on the game that is coming up. It’s a 90-minute game that means a lot, but when you just break it down, it’s just 90 minutes where you just need to win.”