Clive Barker developed many icons in SA football - David Nyathi

Nyathi, a member of the famous 1996 African Cup of Nations Cup (AFCON) winning squad, was paying tribute to Barker, who passed away at the age of 78 this past weekend following a long illness. Nyathi says Barker created many icons of the game for the country.

"Let me first convey my condolences to the family, to the relatives and I think it's fair to say to the country as a whole because Clive is one of the icons that really raised the standard of our football and created many icons, including myself," he said.

"I grew up under Clive Barker, when he came to the national team, the national team was a bit inconsistent and he took us. He gave us belief, he gave us confidence, he gave us the freedom to really see ourselves and express our qualities. We grew under Clive, it's really a sad day for the country as a whole."

Barker came into the Bafana space, just two years after the country had been readmitted into international football and his arrival coincided with the ushering in of democracy in the country. Nyathi looks back at the turning point after the days of four-by-fours and failed qualification campaigns of the 1994 AFCON and FIFA World Cup.

"I think the turning point was just managing us as players and making us believe that we have the ability, we have the quality to really be competitive. He bought a lot of discipline, a lot of focus and we worked on a lot of technical and tactical aspects of our games and we improved a lot, as individuals and as a collective. We became a family with a mission. He used to call us his children and we always knew there is time to work and there is time to play."