Pienaar retires from international football

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Jay

Jay

Player Valuation: £8m
Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar has officially retired from international football and therefore, he is no longer available for Bafana Bafana

‘Schillo’ sent a message to Bafana coach Gordon Igesund and SAFA CEO Raymond Hack late on Monday stating his intentions to quit the national team.
“It is with regret that I wish to inform you that I’m not available for the national team,â€￾ Pienaar wrote.
Pienaar has served the nation for 10 years and Igesund says the nation must “respectâ€￾ his decisionâ€￾ to call it quits.
Greece-based defender Bongani Khumalo will now take over as captain.
 


Johannesburg - South African midfielder and Bafana Bafana captain, Steven Pienaar, has retired from international football.

The 30-year-old Everton midfielder has told Bafana coach, Gordon Igesund, that the pressures of English Premier League football is becoming too much for him to perform on the international stage as well, and that he feels it would be best for him to retire.

Pienaar, formerly of Ajax Cape Town, Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspur, hasn’t played for South Africa since their 1-1 draw with Botswana in June. The midfielder pulled out of Igesund’s first games in charge of the nation, against Brazil and Mozambique, due to injury, and the now former captain will not get to work with Igesund at all.

The Toffees man last scored in Bafana colours back in February of this year in a 2-0 win over Kenya, and has represented the country 62 times since making his debut against Turkey in 2002 at the age of 20.

With Pienaar now retired from international football, Igesund will be forced to pick a long-term captain to replace him. It is thought that Bongani Khumalo, who captained Bafana in Pienaar’s absence in the last two games, will be his preferred choice.

The combative midfielder has played only seven games for Bafana since the World Cup win over France in 2010, and while one can understand the pressures that the Premier League brings with it, you have to wonder if it was purely Pienaar’s decision to retire.

The English league is not known for it’s complete tolerance for international football and, though players like Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure have always fought to play for their country, it may be that Pienaar’s hand was forced by a club not wanting to lose him during next year’s African Cup of Nations.

The African showpiece falls during a vital part of the English league season, and Pienaar is deemed to be a important piece in the Everton jigsaw.
Click to expand...
http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/BafanaBafana/Pienaar-retires-from-Bafana-20121002
 

That's a massive indication that key players in the squad believe we can do big things this year. Huge, huge news this.
 

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