Botswana national football team coach Morena Ramoreboli has explained why Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos prefers Evidence Makgopa.
Under Broos, the Orlando Pirates striker has played 21 for Bafana, scoring eight times. Despite his lack of goals, the tall striker has been part of the national team at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) where he scored a crucial goal against Morocco.
Ramoreboli, who coached Bafana twice in the COSAFA Cup, expalined the type of players Broos wanted in the national team.
Broos a big fan of Makgopa
“If you check Bafana, either they score from the second ball or from crosses or combinations from wider corridors because that’s where he [Broos] has a lot of speed,” said Ramoreboli told SAFJA.
“These are some of the things when he explained to me the type of players he wanted, we had to engage and maybe check them.
Ramoreboli said Mamelodi Sundowns Lebo Mothiba would have been the best fit for Broos unfortunately injuries forced the Bafana mentor to settle for Makgopa.
“One of the players he liked, unfortunately it was during the time he started to struggle getting minutes, is Lebo Mothiba because he believes in the number 9 that can be a point of reference in his game.
“That is why, I always tell people that Makgopa is not used to score goals but to connect how the team plays. Those are the things I learnt from him when he was profiling the type of players he wants,” Ramoreboli added.
With the AFCON a month away, it looks more likely that Makgopa will be in Broos’23-man AFCON squad. “Ngwana Sesi” has been a starter under Abdeslam Ouaddou at Pirates.