On Bafana's upcoming Afcon qualifiers against Liberia
We are playing crucial back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and from what I've seen, Mamelodi Sundowns is dominating the squad selection. In my opinion, there should be no excuses, South Africa should qualify for the next Afcon. It doesn't matter whether there are three countries in our group or four – we should qualify for the next tournament. We should be better than Liberia, 100 percent. South Africa and Morocco should be favourites to make it out of this group. We did not qualify for previous tournaments because other African countries are improving, they are developing their players. It's not all (a) foregone conclusion that we are going to beat Liberia in these matches, but if you look at our pool of players, we should be able to beat them. Five or 10 years ago, do you think that Gambia would have reached the U20 Afcon final? The answer is no, or at least their chances were slim. But now they have developed their players to be ready for the U20 Afcon and that is why they reached the final (and lost to Senegal) in Egypt. They managed to beat Nigeria on their way to the final and that shows you that other African countries are not standing in one place, they are developing players and making progress. There are no more walkovers in African football, you have to be at your best in order to win. Sundowns is also dominating in Africa and their players will be able to bring that experience to the national team, which is good for the country.
On Hugo Broos' squad selection
The Bafana Bafana squad selected for these games is good and well-balanced, in my opinion. We can have our debates and opinions about who should be selected or left out, but at the end of the day the coach is the one who selects the squad. He selected a well-balanced team, which I think should be good enough to help us qualify for the tournament. In the next two matches against Liberia, we should at least get four points – that is the minimum I expect us to get. Njabulo Blom was selected and has since been withdrawn due to injury. Having played two games for his MLS club St Louis City, he was definitely going to play a key role in these qualifiers, but I guess there are future Bafana Bafana matches for him to look forward to. But Sundowns players will play a major role because they are dominating African football and they have experience of what it's like to play on the continent. This experience will be needed in these crucial qualifiers. Cassius Mailula is playing well, he is on fire, he is playing well at home and on the continent. He is a very good player and his experience will be much-needed.
On the coach's Mailula comments
I saw an interview recently where the coach was asked if Mailula is ready to play for a big club overseas and he said no. I agree with the coach on that point. If you ask me if Mailula is ready to go to a mid-table club at a decent league overseas, the answer is yes, he is ready. But is he ready to play for a bigger club in Europe? Then I will say no. If he comes to Europe and joins a big club, can he handle the weather? Can he handle the fact that he will not be in the squad all the time? If he comes back from injury, can he handle the fact that he won't (immediately) go back into the starting line-up? Those are things you must consider when you join a big club in Europe, where there will be other top players as well. At a big European club, it's one step higher. Percy Tau was a good player at Club Brugge, but he was not their biggest player and then he was also injured. The problem with us in South Africa is that we are too impatient. In Europe, you must make baby steps because it's another level. But Mailula will definitely play a bigger role for Bafana and Percy as well because he has regained his form at club level. Then you have Teboho Mokoena in midfield, he is one of the best players we have in the country and the national team. He is a quality player and his game has improved a lot. He tackles, he scores goals, he plays simple and he is one of the best players all round. The last game he played in Sudan against Al Hilal, he did the basics right and dictated the midfield. Then you have Lyle Foster, who is playing in England for Burnley. He is playing in the Championship, which is not an easy league to play in. Like I said, the minimum we should get from these two games is at least four points. We also have a chance to beat Morocco in the last match as well. One thing I like about this coach, he doesn't care which team you play for, he goes for players who are doing well. He picks players on merit. Broos has the same mentality as the current Belgium coach, Domenico Tedesco. Genk are currently number one on the log in Belgium, but Tedesco did not pick a single player from their team. He picks players on merit.
On some of the players left out
When you look at players who are missing and should have been called up, in my opinion, Kobamelo Kodisang deserves a call-up. I heard a lot of people talking about Gaston Sirino possibly playing for Bafana one day, but Kodisang is better than Sirino. Maybe the coach will call him up one day for future national team matches. There is also a player like Tashreeq Mathews in Sweden – he is doing well, he will get a call-up in future. Iqraam Rayners from Stellenbosch FC is doing well, but he needs to perform well not just in six matches. If we call up players who are playing well for five or six weeks, then we will end up with 60 players. Players must play consistently well throughout the season before they are called up.
