The END of Teboho Mokoena’s sentence leaves the Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, with a difficult decision to choose between Talente Mbatha and Siphefelo Sithole to start the World Cup Last 32 match against Canada tomorrow at 9pm at the Los Angeles Stadium, California.
Mokoena is coming back from the punishment of yellow cards that led to him not playing when Bafana faced South Korea in the last group game. While he was away, Mbatha and Sithole played the so-called king in the middle when Bafana entered the playoffs for the first time in the history of the World Cup in four competitions (1998, 2002, 2010 and 2026).
The return of Mokoena, who was booked in the Group A games against Mexico and Czechia separately, leaves Broos with a difficult decision to make on how to set up the scheme.
This Belgian coach included Bafana in the Last 32, he called some “experts with big mouths”, he was criticized in different organizations because of the way he set up the scheme.
In South Korea, the favorite of the fans, Relebole Mofokeng, started the game and played well in collaboration with Mbatha and Sithole (who was also returning from a red card).
Mbatha also showed in this game why he is competing with some of the rare talented midfielders in South Africa with the quality of his hitting which includes strikers, midfield and stoppers for Bafana.
While Mbatha was moving to South Korea, Sithole was also dispersing what was being attempted by these enemies, which was followed by a lot of praise since he was also criticized for the first goal scored by Bafana in the first game of the group.
Broos has already confirmed that Mokoena will start the game for Canada, which makes it highly anticipated that between Mbatha and Sithole, who will start on the bench. Another player who plays this position is Jayden Adams.
“Definitely Mokoena is back in the scheme. That’s all I can say at the moment and that we haven’t gone to visit Los Angeles but we are going with the mindset of knowing that we have the experience to go to the next stage,” said Broos.
The coach also complained about their disqualification when they apologized to Fifa for the three-match ban that was given to Themba Zwane “unfairly”.
Zwane received a red card from the bench in the opening game against Mexico. He has missed two games as he will not play in the Last 32 against Canada, where he will complete his sentence.
If the local team advances to the Last 16, Broos will be able to rely on the Mamelodi Sundowns veteran who is known for breaking the enemy’s back wall.