Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has followed Orlando Pirates tactician Abdeslam Ouaddou’s positional tweak on Relebohile Mofokeng after struggling to find a reliable playmaker in the mould of Themba Zwane.
The Belgian is assembling his team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The upcoming back-to-back international friendly matches against Panama will give him a clear picture of which players to take to the quadrennial global football showcase.
In fine-tuning his team and tactics, Broos hopes to find a permanent solution to the problematic playmaker role. Themba Zwane is the former Cameroon coach’s most dependable man in this position.
But since the Mamelodi Sundowns captain was injured while on national team duty against Congo Brazaville in October 2024, Broos struggled to find the midfielder’s replacement. Attempts to thrust the Pirates duo of Patrick Maswanganyi and Sipho Mbule into that role did not yield the results the Bafana coach desired.
Thalente Mbatha was also unusually tried in this position at the 2025 AFCON, but it did not work.
But with the Buccaneers coach Ouaddou having successfully switched Mofokeng from being a winger to a number 10, Broos has been impressed and intends to do the same. This could also solve the problem of failing to field the trio of Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi at the same time.
HUGO BROOS GUSHES OVER THEMBA ZWANE’S BRILLIANCE
Interestingly, during his early days as Bafana coach, Broos was not an admirer of Zwane and would ignore him from his call-ups. But the 2017 AFCON-winning tactician has been heaping the 36-year-old with praise and also sees Mofokeng reaching the level of the veteran midfielder.
“There is somebody who let the team play better, Sipho did it in September/October [2025] in the World Cup qualifiers. Mbule was outstanding in those games,” said Broos. “But there is also something like consistency. When you see what Themba did before his injury, he was really consistent in his performances. He made us play better, he helped us to better performances because of his intelligence.
“I can’t explain that. I never say anything against Themba that, ‘you have to do this, you have to do that.’ He just does it, he just does what I want. I think Rele can do it as well. I’m sure of it.”
BROOS: ‘MOFOKENG DOES NOT HAVE THE QUALITIES TO BE A GOOD WINGER’
In bold remarks, Broos stated that he does not see Mofokeng thriving as a wideman as he follows Ouaddou’s lead.
“He is not a winger, Rele is not a winger. So, I will see now if he can satisfy us in that position [playmaker role],” the veteran coach added.
“For me, he will not play on the wings anymore, because I don’t think he is a winger. He doesn’t have the qualities to be a good winger. I think he has the qualities to be a good number 10, because with his intelligence, with his qualities, he can help the team a lot. It’s up to him now. I will give him the chance, and we will see what that brings.”
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