Broos roasted over Mofokeng’s decision: ‘He could have prepared him’

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has been questioned regarding the decision of starting Relebohile Mofokeng in the Round of 16 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) loss against Cameroon.

The Orlando Pirates attacker was preferred in the No. 10 role ahead of his compatriot and teammate at Bucs, Sipho Mbule. Despite his zeal on the pitch, Mofokeng struggled to match the Indomitable Lions, who had more experience on the pitch.

It ended in a 2-1 loss despite Broos’ decision to bring ‘Master Chef’ later into the match.

According to Kaizer Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo, it wasn’t a wise decision to start the 21-year-old without prior plan. He argues that could have started in the group stage and not in the knockout phase.

Build his confidence first!

“First one is the mental factor, and then we talk about the social factor which is the second one. The social factor is me understanding you, trusting you and believing in you,” he said in his interview with Africa five-a-side podcast.

“But the players he brought, yes, they might have been together in the national team, but you build into a stage of a certain group.

“From the group stages, if he knew that in the Round of 16, he was going to use Mofokeng. Then build his confidence within the group stages.

Mofokeng wasn’t protected

“But you don’t just throw them in the lion’s den like he did. Look at Mofokeng’s stature, he’s just a skinny young boy like a mosquito versus those big elephants,” the former attacker added.

“Secondly, he was not protected because, I’m saying this because when I used to play for South Africa, I was skinny like him, but the coach used to protect me.

“The only thing I was told to do was being on the ball and forget about defending. Give him the opportunity to operate in the space that doesn’t have the physical contact because clearly, he’s going to lose the battle,” Khumalo concluded.