While a lot has been made about Bafana Bafana’s 3-1 defeat to Zambia in an African Nations Cup Qualifying match over the weekend, the importance of South Africa’s lone goal in the Zambia match has been overlooked.

Apart from Benni McCarthy’s 55th minute strike assisting South Africa’s goal difference and helping Bafana edge Uganda on goal difference to snatch one of the best runner up slots, it was also his 29th goal for the South African national team.

Which meant that he was able to equal Kaizer Chiefs striker Shaun Bartlett as the joint all time top goal scorer for Bafana Bafana, with Bafana Bafana taking on Uruguay in a friendly international at Ellis Park on Wednesday afternoon, Bartlett is tipping McCarthy to notch up goal number 30.

No one better

The Chiefs striker Shaun Bartlett says that it will be an honor for him to be pushed into second place on the Bafana Bafana scoring ranks by McCarthy, as he also has a lot of admiration for the Blackburn Rovers striker.

Bartlett said to kaizerchiefs.com on Tuesday “Benni is a player of real class and quality and he deserves to be the highest goal scorer for the country, he has time and again come up with the goods for the national team at the vital moment”.

Like Bartlett, Benni’s travels have taken him to a number of clubs around the globe and just as Shaun did, Benni ended up in the English Premier League. And Bartlett, who scored his first goal of the 2007 – 2008 season in a league game against Jomo Cosmos on the 25th August, further added: "I truly hope that Benni can go and break the record against Uruguay on Wednesday, he has the potential to do so and I am confident he will”.

Cape Town connection

There are a number of similarities in the way things have panned out for both Benni McCarthy and Shaun Bartlett in their careers. One of the reasons why Shaun Bartlett is glad that it is Benni who could be Bafana’s new goal king is the fact that the two players both hail from the mother city Cape Town.

“In a way it really does not matter to me if Benni becomes the top scorer for the country because at the end of the day he and I come from the same town. As long as it is a player from my home town I have no problem with it” said Bartlett jokingly.

On a more serious note The Amakhosi striker added “Benni’s achievements for the national team and with various clubs around the world have been able to show case the fact that we have many talented players in the country. Based on Benni's success in the game I hope that he has inspired a young generation to equal and better his success at both national team and club level”.