Sundowns coach Mokwena praises Bafana coach Broos for finally picking Zwane

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena has cheekily applauded Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos for abandoning his “stubbornness” and finally picking midfielder Themba Zwane for the national team.

Since being appointed to the Bafana hot seat in April last year to replace Molefi Ntseki, the controversial Belgian coach has repeatedly ignored the Brazilians’ playmaker despite being on form.

On Thursday, Broos pulled a major surprise by including the 33-year-old Zwane in the Bafana squad to play friendly internationals against Sierra Leone and Botswana next week.

Zwane will be one of the senior players for Bafana when they take on Sierra Leone on September 24 and Botswana three days later at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, with both games kicking off at 3pm.

“For Themba Zwane I am very excited,” said Mokwena as the Brazilians prepared to host AmaZulu for their DStv Premiership match at Loftus on Sunday.

“I have been advocating for this and I also want to take my hat off to coach Hugo Broos because it’s one thing to be stubborn as a coach. Let’s be honest, show me someone better that ‘Mshishi’ (Zwane) in his position.”

Though Broos has recalled Zwane to the national team, certain sections of supporters have questioned the continued omission of midfielder Andile Jali who has also been one of the standout performers this season.

“When you have a player with that type of quality available to assist your national team, in my opinion you must bring the player to the national team because it's 50 million hearts and souls.

“As the coach I have a responsibility to protect 50 million hearts and souls, I have the responsibility of making an entire nation happy with performances and results and that means sometimes you may overlook certain players,” Mokwena said.

He said Broos had shown leadership by swallowing his pride and correcting certain negative opinions he had formulated about the experienced creative midfielder.

“When you have the humility and you are able to correct certain negative opinions that you have formulated, that shows incredible leadership and kudos to Hugo Broos on that one.

“This is incredible for Themba Zwane because he has been consistent. He works very hard and he deserves it. That’s how football should always be. Football should always be about meritocracy, it should always be about the best players getting the best opportunities, particularly when it’s about representing your national team. It is great news.”

Looking ahead to the clash with AmaZulu, Mokwena said they are expecting a tough encounter.

“They are a very good side and it’s going to be a difficult game for us but we are happy because the more difficult for us the better. They are the team that are averaging the highest number of shots from outside the box and are very aggressive in transition.

“They play for set pieces to try to create opportunities so intelligent defending becomes very important for us. We are making sure we are in a space where we can prepare for a very difficult side.

“As you can see from the work that went on in the transfer window, they are a very good technical team.”

It has been a busy beginning to the season with PSL clubs playing two matches a week due to the forthcoming break in December and Mokwena said they welcomed a brief break this week.

“It’s always good to have a neutral week, it gives us time to work on a few things and also to integrate the new players like Marcelo Allende (who was sitting next to him at the press conference) especially because they haven’t had the time to work with us so they can adjust to the culture.”

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.