ThisIsFootball.Africa spoke to the legendary Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs striker Shaun Bartlett. Read as he tells us about the standard of the PSL as compared to when we developed players for Europe, the Best XI he played against, and why Sundowns put us on the continental map.
“It is always very difficult to judge if the standard of the PSL has gotten better or worse over the years and what makes a league successful or not,” Shaun Bartlett told ThisIsFootball.Africa.
“What I can add is the Mamelodi Sundowns story. Sundowns won the CAF Champions League in 2016 and basically put us on the continental map with regards to football and the levels we can reach. Consistency is probably the word I would use more than the quality of our football. We do not do it regularly enough. We do not consistently win things on the continent and that probably says it all”
Mamelodi Sundowns defeated Zamalek in the final to win their first CAF Champions League title over two legs by a 3-1 aggregate score. They then qualified as the CAF representative at the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, their first appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2017 CAF Super Cup.
“The Manchester United team I made my debut against for Charlton Athletic in the EPL in December 2000, has to be the best XI I played against,” continued Bartlett.
“The previous year they won the treble, winning the League, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. Although I did manage to score two goals on my home debut.”
We researched the exact eleven that usually started for the Red Devils in that magnificent treble winning squad.
Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Denis Irwin, Jaap Stam, Phil Neville, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Nicky Butt, Ole Gunner Solkskjaer, Henning Berg, Jordi Cruyff, Ronnie Johnsen, Wes Brown, Teddy Sheringham, Jesper Blomqvist, David May
Also Read: Booth: Sundowns Left Back Situation Is Strange
