With calls for Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Lucas Ribeiro Costa to play for Bafana Bafana, Aaron Mokoena has given his opinion on the matter.
Ribeiro has been a star performer for Sundowns and is tipped as one of the candidates for the Footballer of the Season award. This has led to some South Africans calling for his inclusion in the national team. Costa has not featured for the Brazil national team at any level and would qualify to play for Bafana if he were to acquire citizenship.
This is not the first time there have been calls for a South American to play for Bafana. Previously, Gaston Sirino was the one who was doing well and he was being tipped to don the famous Bafana colours.
Mokoena, a former Bafana captain, feels that there is no need to have Costa playing for the national team. With a number of young players coming through, he has the stressed the importance of nurturing local talent to help the senior national team get to another level.
"Look, with due respect, he is a fantastic player and he is doing well for Sundowns, but how many Ribeiros do we have in South Africa? I can name a couple now. Look at what (Relebohile) Mofokeng is doing for Pirates. (Mohau) Nkota for instance. What an exceptional talent. There's (Patrick) Maswanganyi. We do have talent in South Africa" Mokoena said to the Siya crew.
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"What I like about football is that everyone has a view, but for me to turn someone to be South African...I mean we do have a lot of talent. Yes, it would be good to have him, but let's invest in our own as well. We have young players who are coming through. Look at the under-20 team that has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations. Look at the material we have in that team. It's always important to invest in our own," he concluded.
