Orlando Pirates legend and former Bafana Bafana international Benson Mhlongo has made a bold statement about national team star Teboho Mokoena's unmatched talent on the field of play.
After being dropped on several occasions from the starting line-up at Mamelodi Sundowns, Mokoena has continued to produce the good at national team level, with his top-notch performance in the 2025 AFCON qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville serving as an icing on the cake.
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"Mokoena, he is not a star, he is a quality player. Stars are people who can shine only in the darkness. When the darkness is not there, they fade away," Mhlongo says, speaking to KickOff.
"So, Mokoena is quality, and quality is forever there, but stars don't last for long."
Hugo Broos' charges destroyed Congo 5-0 in what turned out to be the Teboho Mokoena show.
The midfielder scored a brace to remind his club coach, Manqoba Mngqithi, why he is one of the best players of his generation.
Mhlongo, who also played for The Brazilians, says the 27-year-old, by his performance, was not proving anything to anybody but justifying it was time his club allowed him to realise his dream of playing overseas.
"I don't see it that way, he was simply raising his hand to say: 'I'm still available'. It does happen in football where a player feels he deserves to go overseas, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, by the way.
"You can't blame Mokoena for pushing to move overseas, and he also has a right to show the country he can still deliver. This is how players respond to challenges.
"Imagine being trusted by the national team coach enough to select you even though you are not playing at your club, and once there you fail to deliver? It was gonna destroy his career. We were gonna crucify him if he didn't do well on Friday.
"So, for what he did on Friday, I respect him no matter what. He showed he is quality, and he deserves to play for the national team and to go play overseas.
"Let Sundowns sort this thing out, the boy deserves to go overseas. That's the bottom line. We don't have to go around the bushes.
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"If he doesn't go overseas, then he deserves to play at Sundowns. He must put pressure on Sundowns. Mokoena shows us that there are players who can perform on the international stage and there are those who cannot. The pressure is not the same.
"Mokoena can deliver at any given time, he doesn't need to adjust. He is a quality player, he's proven it."