Mamelodi Sundowns defender Malibongwe Khoza has opened up on his first Bafana Bafana call-up ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Khoza was speaking as Hugo Broos’ squad assembled on Monday at Dobsonville Stadium to prepare for their upcoming clash against Zimbabwe this Friday at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The 21-year-old defender is the new face in the team along with Thabang Matuludi of Polokwane City.
Khoza admitted the Bafana senior team call-up came earlier than he expected, but he said it was something he had been working hard to achieve.
“I didn’t think my call-up was going to come this early,” said Khoza during the press conference on Monday afternoon at Dobsonville Stadium.
“I was always working and motivated to make sure that I work on my next one [match] and perform every game.”
Khoza believes his CHAN tournament experience was crucial in securing international exposure, which ultimately helped prepare him for the Bafana senior team.
“The team [Sundowns] let me know when I went to CHAN that they wanted me to gain the national team experience cause I didn’t have it before,” he added.
“I didn’t have it before, so I went there, I got some experience, some minutes. Then, I started playing more and getting my confidence back.”
Khoza advises players not to overlook COSAFA and CHAN opportunities, stressing that they provide invaluable experience.
“As players, we tend to look down on COSAFA and CHAN, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be that way,” he continued.
“Playing there is the way of getting experience for some players who can’t break into the national team.
“When you go to COSAFA or CHAN, you get national team experience, and you grow and learn how other countries play.”
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