Teboho Mokoena was yanked off at half-time by Hugo Broos in Bafana Bafana's 5-0 defeat to France, and it wasn't due to injury.
Arguably one of the best midfielders in the country at the moment and having recently secured a big move to Mamelodi Sundowns during the January transfer window from SuperSport United, the player was an obvious choice in the starting line-up against the FIFA World Cup champions.
But he was surprisingly taken off at the break with the score 2-0.
"I think he had a little bit of a problem with the French opponents – and he was also not good when he had the ball," Broos said after the game.
"He lost a few balls in crucial moments that he didn't have to lose. So, okay… he was changed during the half-time and I brought on (Goodman) Mosele. I thought he could be a player with a little bit more power and we needed that because if you look at the players in the French team, they were more powerful, certainly in midfield."
The home team had Ngolo Kante and Adrien Rabiot operating in that area and then brought on Paul Pogba later, but it was a seamless transition.
Bafana struggled.
"We needed a little bit more power, and that's the reason why Teboho was changed at half-time," the Bafana coach explained.
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