Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has revealed that it was captain Ronwen Williams who pleaded for rising star Relebohile Mofokeng to be handed a debut in the FIFA World Cup qualifier clash against Zimbabwe.
South Africa made easy work of The Warriors with a 3-1 beating at Free State Stadium on Tuesday night.
Iqraam Rayners opened the scoring in the opening five minutes, before Zimbabwe levelled matters through Tawanda Chiwera just minutes later.
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The second half saw Broos bring on Thapelo Morena for Elias Mokwana and the move would prove instrumental, as the former delivered a brace to secure a win for Bafana, along with a Man of the Match award.
Much to the crowd's pleasure, the encounter also saw the debut of Orlando Pirates' young gun Mofokeng, who entered the fray in added time.
?????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????? ?????? ?????????????? ??????!Look at that smile from Rele! ??What a moment! Relebohile Mofokeng comes on for Bafana Bafana! ???? pic.twitter.com/iCvSdum3ug
— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) June 11, 2024
The 19-year-old old was initially brought along with the squad to learn and observe, but an intervention from Williams convinced Broos to hand the teenager a first senior national team appearance.
"Yes, the captain came and said, 'Coach, what do you think? For the last minutes, maybe Rele?' I said, 'Okay, good idea', therefore Rele came on," Broos revealed.
"But that shows again how the atmosphere is in this group; they are not colleagues, they are friends and when they can do something for someone else, they do it.
"Ronwen did it a year ago or something, for Veli [Mothwa] I think. He came out five minutes before the end and Veli came in. So, today day he came and said, 'Come on, put Rele in'. I said, 'Okay'.
"That shows again how the atmosphere is; these guys are friends and how they treat each other. They are friends.
"There are only 11 that can play and for me, I had said it, he others, the other 12 that are on the bench are even important and you see today, the proof.
"Thapelo sat on the bench beginning of the match, second half he came in and helped us win the match. So, this is very important."
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The win takes Bafana to second spot in the qualifying group, level on points with Rwanda, who also collected their second win on the same night against Lesotho.
Broos' troops will return to World Cup qualifying action in March 2025 when they take on Benin.
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