“He [Mofokeng] played, what, 18 games [26 actually]? OK, but it's his first season. He doesn't have international experience, nothing. So what I said about Mailula I repeat now for Mofokeng.
“He must stay at Pirates, play another championship in South Africa, with Champions League games maybe, hopefully, and he will be a better player. You've seen what happened with Mailula?
“He came to Toronto and there were two former Italian internationals [he had to compete with]. What were you going to do with a little guy from South Africa there? He didn't play one game, yes he played one game, I think, two months ago. For the rest of the season he was on the bench. What is he learning there?
“Those players [Mailula and Mofokeng] have to play and I hope Mofokeng's agent is cleverer, more clever than the one of Mailula. He only needs to decide what's important for the player and not what's important for him [agent]. Let's see what happens, but I hope he stays at Pirates and plays another season.”
Outlining some of the attributes that convinced him to select Mofokeng for the qualifiers against Nigeria in Uyo on June 7 and Zimbabwe in the Free State on June 11, Broos said Mofokeng brings an element of surprise and creativity to his team.
'This is not the right moment' — Bafana coach Hugo Broos says Mofokeng not ready to go overseas
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
It's not the right time to ship Orlando Pirates' sensational youngster Relebohile Mofokeng overseas despite the 19-year-old's form in the 2023-2024 campaign earning him a Bafana Bafana call-up to the crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe next month.
That was the warning sounded by Bafana coach Hugo Broos after including Mofokeng in his latest squad.
In his first full season at Pirates Mofokeng has already attracted the attention of overseas clubs, including English Premier League outfit Wolves who invited him for trials in January.
But Broos said Mofokeng needs to play at least one more season in the PSL and earn some mileage in the Caf Champions League before considering offers from overseas clubs.
“No, no, no,” was Broos' firm response when asked if this was the right time for Mofokeng to entertain offers from overseas clubs.
“I said the same thing about [Cassius] Mailula [who was sold by Mamelodi Sundowns to Major Soccer League club Toronto FC in the US before the start of 2023-2024 season]. This is not the right moment [for Mofokeng] to go overseas.
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“He [Mofokeng] played, what, 18 games [26 actually]? OK, but it's his first season. He doesn't have international experience, nothing. So what I said about Mailula I repeat now for Mofokeng.
“He must stay at Pirates, play another championship in South Africa, with Champions League games maybe, hopefully, and he will be a better player. You've seen what happened with Mailula?
“He came to Toronto and there were two former Italian internationals [he had to compete with]. What were you going to do with a little guy from South Africa there? He didn't play one game, yes he played one game, I think, two months ago. For the rest of the season he was on the bench. What is he learning there?
“Those players [Mailula and Mofokeng] have to play and I hope Mofokeng's agent is cleverer, more clever than the one of Mailula. He only needs to decide what's important for the player and not what's important for him [agent]. Let's see what happens, but I hope he stays at Pirates and plays another season.”
Outlining some of the attributes that convinced him to select Mofokeng for the qualifiers against Nigeria in Uyo on June 7 and Zimbabwe in the Free State on June 11, Broos said Mofokeng brings an element of surprise and creativity to his team.
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“The guy [Mofokeng] is good on the ball, he's got a good technique, he can score and he has quite a good shot also. The only thing he misses now is [international] experience and you can't have that experience by playing half of the season in the PSL. You need more games and therefore, again, let's hope he will do it and he will stay with us.”
Broos said it was critical Bafana got at least four points out of the two matches against Nigeria and Zimbabwe, especially after Bafana dropped all the points in their 2-0 defeat away to Rwanda in November.
“The only thing I would like to see is we have four or six points and not less than that. Three is not enough but four is good while six will be fantastic. We can play a draw in Nigeria, that will not be a bad result. But you have to win against Zimbabwe,” said Broos.
“You have to win your home games when you're playing qualifiers. If you win your home games and you can take some victory away, I think you're close [to qualifying].
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“So for us the defeat against Rwanda was not good. If we had a draw I would have been happy. But that [loss] is not good because we now have to take two points somewhere else. If we can take them against Nigeria, we're on schedule [to qualify] if we [also] win against Zimbabwe.
“We can't allow ourselves to lose against Nigeria and we don't win against Zimbabwe. That we have to avoid. We need a draw against Nigeria and a win against Zimbabwe, I will be happy.”
Lesotho, Benin and Rwanda complete Bafana's group C which is led by Rwanda with four points. Bafana are second with three points courtesy of their 2-1 home win over Benin in Durban in November.
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