Bafana Bafana captain, Relebohile Mofokeng, will be given the opportunity to prove whether he has the experience to fill the void of Themba Zwane, who has been at odds with the coach of the national team, Hugo Broos, and his team over the years.
Bafana will start preparations for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America (USA) with a friendly match against Panama on Friday at 7pm at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban.
When Broos announced his squad last week, he was asked about Zwane’s return to the team and he responded by revealing that he has found a replacement for the Mamelodi Sundowns team that missed the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) due to injury.
The return of Zwane, who is like a conductor of the choir in Bafana, led to Sipho Mbule and Patrick Maswanganyi of Orlando Pirates being left out. Mbule was the one who played Zwane’s place in the Afcon in Morocco, months ago.
Broos announced that he will not play him in Mofokeng again because he is not built to play in this position but he will put him inside after the strikers.
“I have no doubt that Mofokeng can fill Zwane’s place because they are gifted in the same way when the ball is at their feet,” said Broos.
“It is up to Mofokeng to satisfy us as a coaching staff that he has the experience to play in the middle of the field. He is not a corner player and he is not built for that.
“I am not saying that I am telling his team how they have used him but under my leadership in Bafana, Mofokeng will not play in the horns again.
“He has a lot of intelligence that the team needs but it will not benefit them if he is in the horns. He is the one who will shepherd the strikers because he has shown many times that he is better when he plays in this place. It is up to him to take this place because the others we tried in it did not fully satisfy us even though we cannot eat the strength of players like Mbule and Maswanganyi.”
Bafana will face Panama again on Tuesday, March 31, at DHL Stadium, Cape Town.