Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained what he told Orlando Pirates midfielder Sipho Mbule after recalling him to the national team.
Mbule returned to the Bafana Bafana setup in the previous FIFA break for the first time since 2021, featuring in both games against Lesotho and Nigeria.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder has seemingly impressed Broos in the Themba Zwane role, as Broos now named him again in the squad that will participate in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
Broos described Mbule as one of the most talented players and revealed that he explained to him he has a great chance to make the AFCON squad, should he stay away from off-pitch distractions.
“I told him, Sipho, when he came on camp, I said, ‘Sipho, this is a second chance you get. Don’t spoil it’,” he said on SABC1.
“He was with us from the first day I was here. But yeah, there were some other things I think [more] important for him than football, certain moments…
“He’s a guy with much talent, but when you see his career, even [though] he played in good teams, he didn’t have the career that equivalent with.
“I think it motivated him. I told him also, ‘look, if you do what you have to do, and you show me, there is AFCON in December, don’t forget it’. Yeah, but motivate anyone twice.
“He did what we asked from him, and I give him the confidence again to be with us again and to do the same thing again? And it should help us. It should help the team enormously.”
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