2010 World Cup finals hosts South Africa’s Steven Pienaar is hoping to let his football do the talking again as he believes that his team will go far this time as it would be a chance for them “to make history”. The Everton star shared with the Independent about his rise from a criticised member of the Bafana Bafana during the 2002 World Cup to an integral player in coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s team that hopes to fulfill a nation’s hope for success on the sport’s biggest stage.
Pienaar will be winning his 51st cap for South Africa when he turns out for the team against Mexico in the opening 2010 World Cup fixture tomorrow, Friday 11 June. The midfielder said that he had grown in confidence since last year’s Confederations Cup and believes that he has finally convinced the doubters that he does wear his heart on his sleeves.
“It took time, but eventually I got more confidence to express myself at the Confederations Cup. I felt enough was enough of people criticising me that I don’t play with my heart for the national team and only for my club,” said Pienaar.
The player who plies his trade in the Premier League with Everton also hopes the media and fans will focus more on the Bafana Bafana as a team rather than on himself.
“Now we have the World Cup and it’s a big ask but I know I have my team-mates to support me. We have to be together and hopefully we can satisfy the people by doing that. When the team is playing good and we are winning, there won’t be any talk about just Steven Pienaar, it will be the whole team,” added Pienaar.
The 28-year-old added that it would be difficult for the team to eclipse the accomplishments of the 1996 South African side that became African champions, but believes that the current team can go further than the second round as he looks forward to creating a piece of history with them.
“We all have a lot of respect for the class of ‘96. I know it’s going to be hard for us to emulate that,” he said. “This is our chance to make history, although the second round would not be enough for me. I think we have to get further than that. We have a vision that we can do it. Now we have to show it on the field.”
Pienaar also gave Everton fans some hope despite refusing to sign a new contract with the club recently, claiming that he hopes to “pay them back someday” after the faith and confidence manager David Moyes showed him.
“I’ve often wondered when he gets chance to go to sleep because he is the hardest working manager I’ve ever come across,” he said. “The gaffer has always been there to help me. He’s the one who took me to England and had a lot of confidence in me. When someone shows you that kind of respect you really want to pay them back someday.”
Tags: English Premier League, Everton, South Africa, Steven Pienaar, World Cup, World Cup 2010
