Former Bafana Bafana midfielder Lebogang "Cheeseboy" Mokoena speaks exclusively to Soccer Laduma on why he believes South Africa should select players from the most famous three clubs in the PSL, Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
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National team coach Hugo Broos' outfit beat DR Congo 1-0 in a friendly international fixture on Tuesday. South Africa were preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers. On Saturday they drew 0-0 against Namibia using many fringe players who normally didn't get an opportunity.
Mokoena's comments come after Broos indicated he already knows most of his squad that would probably be taken to Ivory Coast for AFCON from January 2024.
The current squad mostly included Sundowns and Pirates players, while Pule Mmodi was the only representative of Chiefs. Amakhosi initially had no players selected in the squad until Themba Zwane's injury meant Mmodi had to be brought in. As a result there's been a lot of talk as to whether more Chiefs players should be in the Bafana squad.
"It's good to see players from Pirates' development like Lyle Foster, Thabiso Monyane and Innocent Maela and also players from Sundowns' development," Mokoena told Soccer Laduma.
"We are missing players from Chiefs' development. You cannot have only one Chiefs player in the national team. That's not how it should be. We need more players from Chiefs as well.
"Bafana Bafana need to have players from these three teams - Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates. It's unfortunate that at the moment Chiefs are not having enough players in Bafana Bafana while Sundowns and Pirates have a better (showing).
"Look at the 1996 AFCON winning team, how many players were there from these three teams? They were well represented. I am not saying the other teams don't have good players for the national team but if you have players from these three teams you know you have the right balance for the national team," Mokoena said.
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'Cheeseboy' added that it's good to see development players prove themselves at national team level and what it means going forward.
"When you see young players from the teams' development sides that means football is going in the right direction. Teams should really work on that so that our football can improve mainly at the national team level.
"I am aware that some of those players are already playing for the national team. Our future is bright in that regard and we need to continue working on that," Mokoena concluded.
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