Broos completely shuts Bafana door on in-form Lorch – ‘Look at his age’

While pressure has been increasing on Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos to recall Thembinkosi Lorch to the national team, the veteran tactician has reiterated his stance.

Broos has made it categorical that the 32-year-old has no way back into his plans despite a great run of form for Moroccan giants Wydad Athletic Club, where he has four goals in eight matches.

Lorch has been instrumental in Wydad’s run to the CAF Confederation Cup group stages, scoring a stunning goal in preliminary round second leg against Asante Kotoko of Ghana, while in the league, he has three goals in his last six games.

He has 7 G/A in his last 7 games. 🤯
Form ? Thembinkosi Lorch is the form. 🧊 pic.twitter.com/w6fSzyb7ps

— Wydad Red Castle (@WydadRedCastle) November 5, 2025

That has seen pressure from all quarters on Broos to consider the former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns attacker but the 73-year-old has made it clear that he has no desire to call up the player because he does not fit into the profile of what he is looking for.

Why will the Bafana coach not be calling up Lorch?

“You have to make choices. Lorch was once with us, I think two years ago when we played in Morocco and he was playing very good at Pirates at that moment,” said Broos as quoted by iDiski Times.

“His performance was not good. Then I followed him, he played, then he didn’t play. At Pirates he dropped out of the team and then he went to Sundowns because Rulani [Mokoena] wanted him.

Hugo Broos says there’s no place for Thembinkosi Lorch in the squad.

Gift Links ‘not at the level’ for the national team. @BafanaBafana | @iDiskiTimes pic.twitter.com/2NH6fEnbga

— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) November 6, 2025

“But after a few months he didn’t play anymore. Ok, now he’s playing good in Morocco, but you also have to look at his age. This is not the future, I’m very sorry, this is not the future.”

Broos made a comparison of Lorch’s situation with that of Sundowns’ playmaker Themba Zwane, who he had also overlooked for being old, but later recalled to the national team to great effect.

Broos explains how Mshishi’s case is different to Nyoso’s

The Bafana boss said Zwane got a chance due to the limited options in his position at the time but Lorch has no way into the national team as there are many younger players who play a similar role to his.

“If I shouldn’t have other opportunities, maybe I should take him,” said Broos before shutting the door completely on Nyoso.

“Maybe! But it happened also four years ago with Themba [Zwane] and I wanted to look for opportunities and I didn’t find them and I had to go back to Themba and it was a very good decision when I took him because you saw what happened to the team.

“But again, for Lorch for the moment I don’t see, even though he has good performances in Morocco, I don’t see any reason to take him with the team.”