Pitso Mosimane justifies Thabang Matuludi Bafana call-up

Bafana Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane has justified the national team call-up of defender Thabang Matuludi, who has only made a single appearance in the 2026/27 campaign.

The 27-year-old right-back recently joined African champions Mamelodi Sundowns from Polokwane City, with the Brazilians beating Betway Premiership title holders Orlando Pirates to the player's signature.

He made his first appearance of the season in the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup triumph over back-to-back Asian champions Al Ahli SC of Saudi Arabia at Loftus Versfeld Stadium over the weekend.

His inclusion in the Bafana squad for the upcoming Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers has been met with skepticism, but Mosimane says he's been tracking Matuludi's progress from pre-season to date.

“Sometimes you need to have a little bit of a sangoma next to you to predict and tell you what to do, and I know that somewhere somehow somebody will say why are you picking a player who's not playing,” said the Bafana boss.

"We make our researches, I've watched him, I know he's been training the whole pre-season, he has played few friendly games in pre-season. You [media] and me don't get involved in other stuff the clubs do.

"The players belong to clubs, we should respect the clubs, we should also respect the coaches at the their respective teams. But a national team player is a national team player.

"And also, it's important that the players must know that if they train and they are doing things well and we are watching - we know what's happening, we don't just arrogantly choose a Matuludi because we want to choose a Matuludi.

The former Sundowns mentor went on to highlight that Matuludi was already an important figure in the national team fold under his predecessor Hugo Broos, and was impressed with his debut for the Tshwane giants.

“Unfortunately, as a coach, you know how it is in our jobs, you've got to tell before and mostly you guys tell after if it was right or wrong. And if it's wrong we know that we're going to get the grill out of it and if we are right, that's why we are coaches,” he added.

"We do our research, I've followed Matuludi all the way ever since I've been given an opportunity to be able to be a Bafana coach. I've just researched everything and everywhere long before I signed the contract. So, I've been checking.

"I've been checking Luther [Singh] all the time, not yesterday. So, a lot of guys are doing well and they need to be given an opportunity. And by the way, I don't want to be sounding smart, Matuludi was in the World Cup, the previous coach already had him.

"I think we should give credit to the previous coach for having him in the team. The boy played a cup final on Saturday, and I think it was a decent performance to show that he's a decent player and he needs to fight for the position.

South Africa will host Guinea at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday, 26 September, before squaring off against Eritrea at a neutral venue in Cairo four days later, and face Egypt in a friendly match on 04 October.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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