‘Hugo drops my name and I don’t like it’ – Rulani responds to Broos over Lorch

MC Alger coach Rulani Mokwena has expressed his disappointment with Bafana Bafana boss Hugo Broos over the way he has dragged his name into his ‘beef’ with Thembinkosi Lorch.

Broos has made it clear that he would never select Lorch because the Wydad AC forward does not fit the profile of what he is looking for in his team while also claiming that the player did not impress him when he called him up previously.

The Bafana Bafana boss went on to suggest that Lorch was a player who failed at Orlando Pirates before Mokwena rescued him by signing him for Mamelodi Sundowns, a club that he struggled to get playing time, before being loaned to Wydad last January after which he made the move permanent at the end of last season.

“He played in [Orlando] Pirates. He was out of the team, they kicked him out,” Broos said in December while defending the exclusion of Lorch from the AFCON 2025 squad.

Mokwena to talk to Broos over Lorch comments

“He was happy that Rulani [Mokwena] was in [Mamelodi] Sundowns. He came in Sundowns he played a few games, finished. They kicked him out also.”

Those comments did not go down well with Mokwena, who says they left him emotional, and he has promised to take it up with the veteran Belgian coach.

“There are many comments that Hugo drops and mentions my name and I don’t like it but I will address that with him personally instead of using the radio to address these things,” Mokwena said on Sports Night Amplified with Andile Ncube.

“Especially when he has to speak about Lorch and Lorch being thrown out and Rulani picked him up and some of these things is very difficult to comment because sometimes I am emotional about them.”

Bafana coach faced pressure for snubbing Wydad star

Lorch was one of the highly rated players at Orlando Pirates before Mokwena lured him to Sundowns in January 2024 but the player struggled for game time, especially after the tactician left the club in July that year.

The two would reunite in Morocco last year when Mokwena signed him on loan at Wydad and the player impressed, earning a permanent deal at the end of the season.

Broos has been facing pressure for excluding Lorch when the attacker is in great form as he had scored five goals and added four assists in 11 matches before AFCON 2025.

Lorch last played for Bafana Bafana in June 2022, when South Africa beat Morocco 2-1 in a 2023 AFCON qualifier, starting the game and managing 62 minutes.