By Michael Madyira
Following the announcement of the final 23-man squad to face Mozambique and Angola in upcoming international friendlies, it was time for coach Hugo Broos to justify his selection again.
One of the major talking points was the omission of France-based striker Lebo Mothiba and Broos was left scrambling for excuses as usual.
Facing a probing media, the Belgian has in the past struggled to back his team selection, often giving inconclusive or muddled responses.
Earlier in the year, the Afcon-winning coach ended up making a sensational U-turn on Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Themba Zwane whom he previously insisted did not fit in his plans.
From the latest list, Broos has defended his decision to snub Mothiba, who is back to full fitness and has scored two goals in six Ligue 1 games for Strasbourg.
“For Mothiba, he has been with his team for two weeks and he is just playing half an hour and 15 minutes or something like that,” Broos said.
“Is that a standard to take a player? I don’t know, I don’t think so. You need to do well with performances, one after the other. He was injured for a long time and he didn’t play last year, so let’s see what happens.”
Both Mothiba’s goals have come in the past two weeks, including against Marseille, a match he featured in for 45 minutes.
The 26-year-old plies his trade in the most competitive league than other Bafana players.
While Broos has been painting a picture of Mothiba making cameo roles for his team, the forward has been playing more minutes despite substitute appearances.
Managing two goals in six appearances off the bench makes for better reading than Zakhele Lepasa’s one league goal in nine Premier Soccer League games for Orlando Pirates.
Another striker preferred by Broos, Mihlali Mayambela, has one goal in eight games for his Cypriot top-flight league side Aris Limassol.
But Mothiba has been overlooked despite initially returning from a long injury layoff in January, before making 13 league appearances for Troyes last season where he was on loan.
He remains out of the national team since the 2019 Afcon finals in Egypt.
In September, Broos said he dropped Keagan Dolly because Kaizer Chiefs are struggling but the former Cameroon coach has stuck with right-back Nyiko Mobbie whose Sekhukhune United are second-from-bottom on the PSL table.
Mobbie’s continued selection has come with Mamelodi Sundowns’s Khuliso Mudau being sacrificed besides the defender being a regular at Masandawana.
Pictured above: South Africa and Strasbourg striker Lebo Mothiba
