Orlando Pirates legend Lebohang ‘Cheeseboy’ Mokoena has pinpointed Bafana Bafana’s Mohau Nkota’s struggles at the AFCON tournament currently underway in Morocco.
Nkota made his AFCON debut when South Africa played their first group stage encounter on Monday, 22 December, against Angola, whom they defeated with a 2-1 scoreline at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.
The 21-year-old started the match and lasted for 46 minutes. He was replaced by Pirates star Tshepang Moremi in the second half.
However, the Buccaneers’ product was on the bench when Hugo Broos’ charges succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Egypt on Friday, 26 December, at Stade Adrar, Agadir.
The gifted right winger is likely to feature for Bafana when they face their neighbors Zimbabwe at the Stade de Marrakech this evening [18:00 SA time].
WHAT LEBOHANG MOKOENA SAID ABOUT MOHAU NKOTA’S SLOW START AT AFCON
Mokoena stated that fans need to be patient with Nkota, as he is still young and cannot be expected to impress instantly on the biggest stage like AFCON. He went on to give some advice to the Al-Ettifaq FC star.
“You know, I have been reading a lot of comments about Nkota. Obviously, the boy did not perform well since his AFCON debut; he probably knows it as well. I think there is just one thing that we also need to keep in mind: yes, we wanted Nkota to show us what he has been doing throughout the qualifiers and all of that,” Mokoena told SoccerBeat podcast.
“But the stage is different now, you know. So, as a youngster, I think it just gets more difficult, and maybe the nervousness of the first game, along with having to deliver and coming up against all these international players, adds to the pressure. They really analyze the opponent. I think it can only be fair that we give him an opportunity and see what happens in the upcoming game. I would really love Nkota to be a player who comes in as an impact player.
“The alternation between him and Tshepang Moremi or doing better on the left-hand side is important. But let’s give him a chance. It’s not easy for a youngster to walk into those shoes and have to deliver, score, and create goals.
“So, I think he just needs to work on that, get his confidence, and also try to alternate his game because I feel like he is just too one-dimensional. He does the same thing over and over again. He steps over to his right and basically tries to cut in. So, he should try a bit of combination play. I think if he tries a bit of that when it comes to what Oswin Appollis does, he should try to get himself in positions where he can shoot because we know he packs a lot of power, but he doesn’t create that space for himself to get an angle to shoot.”
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