Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana striker Katlego Mphela has given his thoughts on the impact of selecting Teboho Mokoena and Khuliso Mudau could have in the national team even though they have been left out of the matchday squads recently at club level.
Both Mokoena and Mudau have been included in the preliminary squad for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo, despite the fact that they have not featured in the last four of Sundowns' matchday squads.
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The two players have been key components in Hugo Broos' team for some time now and it had a lot to do with their consistency at club level.
Now, with both of them not getting game time, Broos has a big decision on whether or not to include them in his final squad for the crucial back-to-back qualifiers against Congo next month.
"It depends on how the coach sees or values them in his set up of the team. I am talking about Hugo Broos here. I'd like to believe that they are very important for his set up, so the first thing he is likely to do is intervene and maybe call the players or sit down with them to try to find a solution. As a player, it does not help because in these kinds of situations, you never win. You are only valued when you play and we all know that you are only as good as your last game, so not playing competitive football is going to harm their season," Mphela said to the Siya crew.
One of the reasons Broos left Percy Tau out of the last squad was the fact that he was not getting much game time at Egyptian giants Al Ahly at the time. Now, with Mokoena and Mudau not playing at Sundowns, the coach may need to practice what he preached in the last camp by leaving Mokoena and Mudau out.
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"I think it depends on who is available and which position you are talking about. If you are talking about a defender, I think there are so many defenders who are on form now and can come in. You are talking about Tebza's position as well, you see that there are young guys who are doing well in that position. The coach can get away with selecting them in one or two games, but it (the results) would have to go his way. If he doesn't get results, it's going to be a problem," Mphela said.
"The fact that they are not playing at club level now could also affect their performances if the coach decides to call them. But it happens all over the world where coaches sometimes select players who may not be playing much, like (Harry Maguire) with England. The coaches always have these players that they believe in, but it could affect them because they are not playing. At the end of the day, a solution has to be reached and they need to pull up their socks. They need to show coach (Manqoba) Mngqithi that they can still play. I was in that situation myself and you never win as a player."
