Pitso Mosimane explains why Mbekezeli Mbokazi is back in Bafana squad

Pitso Mosimane has welcomed the return of Mbekezeli Mbokazi to the Bafana Bafana squad, highlighting the defender's attitude and the importance of managing players returning from overseas.

Mosimane praises Mbokazi's mentality

Mbokazi missed South Africa's previous international camp, during which Mosimane recorded three victories in the opening matches of his second spell as head coach.

The defender is now back in the squad ahead of the double-header against Kenya, with Mosimane pleased by what he has seen from the player.

“A good boy, a good player, he wants to play. A good mentality, good energy from what I saw on the games,” the coach said.

Mosimane also addressed the challenges facing players arriving from Major League Soccer, explaining that some had spent around a day and a half travelling to join the national team.

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“The MLS players they travelled for one-and-a-half days to be here and time differences, we don’t adjust our time to their time, because we are a group and they just come in and gel in proper,” he added.

'We're only as good as our last game'

The Bafana coach explained that recalling players who featured in Hugo Broos' World Cup squad was also a way of recognising their previous contributions to the national team.

“We are as good as our last game, I think you know that,” Mosimane said.

He also discussed the importance of giving returning players an opportunity, while ensuring the squad maintains its competitive standards.

“We need to keep the momentum going after the results. In the national team we never have the same players easily back.

“We have injuries, we have Thapelo [Morena] out injured, we got Thalente [Mbatha] back from injury so we also had to give him the opportunity to be with this group because there was never a problem when he was around – so are the others, Lyle [Foster], Mbokazi, all the guys who played well in the World Cup, so we need to give them an opportunity.

“Everyone knows, as I said you’re only as good as the last game, if you are injured you need to have somebody to play in your position and we also need to encourage who come and play. Yes, the quality might not be the same, but we have a country to choose from.”

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