Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has called for more opportunities to be given to rising star Relebohile Mofokeng and for more young players to be called up to the national team.
South Africa's 3-1 win over Zimbabwe on Tuesday marked a second victory in four 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
It also marked a first senior national team appearance for Mofokeng, who had a stellar campaign for Orlando Pirates in 2023/24.
READ | Broos reveals how Downs star pleaded for Mofokeng debut
The 19-year-old enjoyed the trust of coach Jose Riveiro, who fielded him a whopping 38 times across all competitions.
Speaking on the DNA Podcast, Bafana legend Khumalo said more players Mofokeng's age should be brought into the senior national team set-up.
"I'm just going to say this, as a country we need to sit back and look at what we are doing wrong," Khumalo said.
"Why does it have to take a player to be 22 or 26 to be in the national team, whereas our counterparts have 17-, 19-year-olds in their squads? You just pointed out that Zimbabwe have a 20-year-old in their squad.
"If Mofokeng is [turning] 20, so now this is when you introduce the player. This is the time, when a player is 20 or 22.
"So, all this crop of players that we are talking about, this is when we bring them closer to the national team for them to get used to the set-up, to understand what it takes to be in the national team and what it takes to play for the national team.
"So, let's go with them.
"I think what happened in Ivory Coast has eliminated fear in terms of introducing the new blood, the current crop. If we were talking three years ago, I would also be sceptical; that we might spoil the journey for these boys."
ALSO READ | 'He'll be Pirates' most important signing'
Among the new group of players in the Bafana set-up are Mofokeng's club teammate Patrick Maswanganyi and Kaizer Chiefs' Given Msimango, 26 and 27 respectively.
"It's too late to introduce a 26-year-old because he's going to give you how many years? Three or four years, and we don't play every weekend. We play after three months, after six months. It's time for us to change how we perceive or do things in South Africa.
"It shouldn't be an obstacle for us to introduce a 16- or 17-year-old to the senior national team. [Oswin] Appollis, [Jayden] Adams, we need the national team to be 60% of those players.
"I'm not sure about the time we have to organise friendlies with strong opposition and throw these boys in to see how they do."
Bafana return to World Cup qualifiers in March 2025 when they host Lesotho, with 2025 AFCON qualifiers preceding that.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!