Legendary former Bafana Bafana midfield maestro Doctor "16" Khumalo presenting man of the match award to national team star player Relebohile Mofokeng who scored his first international goal.
Bafana Bafana walloped their neighbours Lesotho 2-0 in Limpopo at the new Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Friday night following their sterling performance which thrilled their fans countrywide.
Orlando Pirates star player Relebohile Mofokeng grabbed the opportunity of starting the game with both hands given by his national team coach Hugo Broos by scoring the opening goal and winning man of the match award.
Mofokeng charmed soccer lovers barely a week after scoring a brace when Pirates thwacked Sundowns during their DSTV Premier League title race.
Broos and his troops next game will be against Benin on Tuesday, 25 March away from home. This match will start at 18:00 in Ivory Coast.
Mofokeng thanked senior players who motivated him during the first half highlighting that they told him to keep on pushing and indeed he heeded to their calls and grabbed the first goal calmly.
Another Bafana Bafana star Jayden Adams scored the second goal, in also his first start for Bafana, which Broos duly noted as he discussed the duo taking their chance offered in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier as they moved top of Group C, two points ahead of Benin, who drew 2-2 to Zimbabwe yesterday.
Bafana Bafana coach said however that nobody is guaranteed a regular starting position in the national team lineup.
“You know, I cannot tell anyone that they are a regular in the Bafana Bafana squad. There are 23 players and that’s the first. Secondly, I said before that as a coach you have to see when is the right moment to bring a player and I think this game was the right game for ‘Rele’. He played a very good game and this is what we need. When you put a young guy in the team as a coach, you have to always think that he can succeed. When he doesn’t succeed, imagine if ‘Rele’ had a bad game and everybody would start saying maybe it’s too soon, maybe he’s not so good, blah! blah!..," Broos added.
“So, you have to help the player a little bit. I think I did that today [Friday] with Rele. Also, this was a good opponent [Lesotho] to do that, you can’t do that against Nigeria, or you can’t do that for the first time in Benin because those are different games. From my side, I have to watch and see what is the right moment. But today, you saw ‘Rele’ how he was so confident, and he confirmed it. I’m very happy with it.”
Relebohile Mofokeng and his teammate Thalente Mbatha and Bafana Bafana technical team celebrating their win after the game in Limpopo at the new Peter Mokaba Stadium which was capacitated by national team supporters.
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