SA players in a comfort zone, says former Bafana defender Nasief Morris as he urges them to move abroad

Former Bafana Bafana defender Nasief Morris has joined the chorus highlighting the importance of South African players moving abroad to expose themselves to bigger football stages.

Morris spent almost a decade in Europe where he played for Aris Saloniki and Panathinaikos in Greece, Apollon Limassol in Cyprus and Recreativo Huelva and Racing Santander in Spain.

Morris, who played for Santos and SuperSport United in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), said South African players must move from their comfort zone to be tested at a higher level abroad.

In recent years, midfielders Keagan Dolly and Bongani Zungu returned home after unsuccessful spells in France while Percy Tau failed to make the grade at Brighton and Brighton & Hove Albion.

“For me it is the mentality of the players. Everyone is comfortable in South Africa and they don’t want to take their goals higher,” he said during the launch of the 2023 Nedbank Cup last 32 where Cape Town Spurs were drawn with Baroka.

He is assistant coach at Spurs.

“If I look back at our generation, we used to aim high because we didn’t want to stay in South Africa, we wanted go to Europe. We wanted to play against the best in the world. Those were the targets that we put for ourselves and we achieved those dreams.”

Morris joined unfancied Aris Saloniki before he was snapped up by giants Panathinaikos. He said South African players must consider moving to smaller European clubs to put themselves tin he shop window.

“I think with today’s generation, there is too much comfort. They are comfortable here at home and they don’t want to challenge themselves. They don’t want to put themselves in the shopping window in a small country in Europe.

“By doing so, you put yourself out there and there are possibilities to be snatched by bigger clubs. In my case, I went to Greece to play for a small team and I was later snapped by one of the big teams there and ended up in La Liga after that.

“It’s about what you want and you must do it for yourself at the end of the day.

"Sometimes I understand you can earn the same amount of money here in South Africa, but by going overseas you are challenging yourself and you are putting yourself in the European window and you can achieve a lot more.

“The plan should always be to aim higher than you think you can because anything is possible at the end of the day. I will never say we don’t have the talent and the quality. I believe we always have always produced quality players, but lack of exposure to Europe is how you grow as a player.

“In South Africa, with the quality of coaches we have, we should be able to make a difference in these players as well but at the end of the day is up to the player and what he wants in his career.”

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