Dossiers for Pitso to ponder

Pitso Mosimane's cry for help in Bafana Bafana's striking department has not fallen on deaf ears.

South Africa does have marksmen ready to do duty for the national team, though some, according to Mosimane, are past their prime.

Benni McCarthy, defending Absa Premiership champions Orlando Pirates leading goal-scorer this season, along with Siyabonga Nomvethe, Moroka Swallows' front man this term, have been in impressive form.

A dossier on the strikers' performances this season shows a notable scoring rate from McCarthy and Nomvethe, who are both 34 and have yet to officially retire from Bafana.

Mosimane refuses to give them the time of day when he picks his squad, but if given a closer look, the coach might realise the old guard are the short-term answer.

They can do the job for now - more importantly in the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

McCarthy and Nomvethe have scored match-winning goals this season, just what Bafana need as Mosimane seeks to find a suitable partner for Katlego Mphela.

MCCARTHY'S DOSSIER

The former West Ham striker scored coming off the bench on debut for Pirates in a 2-0 win at the Peter Mokaba stadium in August.

He has scored six more times, taking his Premier League tally to seven and a decent strike rate of 43% after only 16 games - five of them as a substitute.

All McCarthy's goals have been game-changers, most recently his two strikes in the 3-2 win over Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.

His second of the season had given Pirates the edge over Maritzburg United, but McCarthy was sent off soon after and his team were beaten 2-1.

A first-half penalty he converted brought the unbeaten record of Supersport United - log leaders at the time - to a halt and Pirates won the game 3-1.

Two weeks ago, McCarthy again came off the bench against Platinum Stars to lead his team to victory, scoring one of the four goals in a 4-3 away win. It was the same story four days later when his overhead kick, contender for goal of the season, gave the Buccaneers the valuable three points against Maritzburg.

NOMVETHE'S DOSSIER

He got off to a slow start, scoring his first in Swallows' fifth league game this season. But when he banged them in, they came in pairs against Jomo Cosmos, Wits and Ajax - all games won by the Dube Birds.

Eight of Nomvethe's 10 goals came in crucial wins for Swallows.

The former Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates striker has a 50% strike rate, having netted 10 in 20 league encounters. This is a record that has his club coach Gordon Igesund screaming for Nomvethe to be included in the Bafana squad, even if it is just for the World Cup qualifiers.

OTHER SCORERS MOSIMANE CAN LOOK TO THIS SEASON

Katlego Mphela: Tied with Nomvethe on 10 goals, having played one less game. But the Sundowns striker is the Bafana coach's favourite forward despite his dry spell for the national team.

Edward Manqele: The Free State Stars player has been given a run by Mosimane and the coach gave good feedback following the striker's debut in the 0-0 draw with Senegal last month. He has nine goals.

Eleazar Rogers: He is often overlooked by selectors, but with such a heavy goal drought, maybe it is time to take a chance on the Santos marksman and his partner Erwin Isaacs, who has scored six goals, one less than Rogers.