Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has explained his decision to include Orlando Pirates winger Relebohile Mofokeng in his Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad.
Broos named his 25-man squad to do battle in Morocco later this month, and Mofokeng was one of the nine Bucs players to be included in the final squad.
The 21-year-old missed the final World Cup qualifiers due to injury and there were fears among fans that ‘President yama 2k’ might miss the continental tournament.
Since his return, Mofokeng has inspired Pirates to back-to-back league wins and even earned Man of the Match performance against Durban City.
Broos happy to see Mofokeng play
The Bafana coach described Mofokeng as a good and talented player.
“About Relebohile, I like him as a player. He’s a very good player; he’s a very talented player. Had a few problems now in the past week with an injury, so I was very happy to see him play again with Pirates, and that’s why I didn’t doubt one second to take him with the selection,” Broos said.
Mofokeng made his debut for Bafana under Broos last year when he was 19. Since then, he has featured in five matches for the national team and even scored his first goal against Lesotho earlier this year in World Cup qualifiers.
After struggling for form this season and was not selected during Bafana’s last friendly match against Zambia. Earlier this year, Mofokeng also struggled for form, but Broos refused to drop him and instead backed him to return to his best.
Since his return from injury last month, Rele has had three good matches, and it was no surprise when he made it to the AFCON squad. Whether he’ll start any match at the tournament remains to be seen.