Teboho Mokoena will have to force his way back into the Mamelodi Sundowns first team or Hugo Broos will have to drop him from the national team.
This is the view of Bafana Bafana great Doctor Khumalo, who was speaking with Andile Ncube on The DNA Podcast.
Despite being a key player for club and country last season, Mokoena is yet to take to the field for Sundowns this season.
However, Broos has kept his faith in the holding midfielder and selected him for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo.
After naming his squad last week, the Belgian said he found it difficult to understand how a player lie Mokoena was struggling for game time. If the situation continued, however, Broos said he would have to make a decision about future call ups.
Unfortunately for Mokoena, Sundowns only have three games between Bafana’s second game against Congo and the next international break next month.
Sundowns take on Polokwane City on October 27, Cape Town City on October 30, and Sekhukhune United on November 9. Bafana are then scheduled to face Uganda and South Sudan in Afcon qualifiers on November 10 and 18.
Should Mokoena not feature in those games, Mokoena should be left out of the next Bafana squad.
“It wouldn’t be right to call him up. The game is a teacher. Yes, I understand his experiences gives us another dimension, but game fitness is very key,” said Khumalo.
“If he’s not there, then the question is, ‘why is a player like [Tshegofatso] Mabasa, who is playing very well, is not selected, but you select a player who hasn’t played?’
“He can’t [be selected] if he doesn’t play [for Sundowns] because you’re opening up a can of worms. It’s not the name that plays, it’s what the player can give.
“He would miss three games. His fitness level will be below [the others]. That means anyone who plays alongside him in midfield will have to do double [the work] in order for us to have a balance in the middle,” he said.
Mokoena’s Sundowns future looks bleak after Sundowns’ head coach Manqoba Mngqithi said he prefers Rivaldo Coetzee in the number 6 position.
IOL Sport