Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo believes attacker Tashreeq Matthews is the kind of player that can give the team a surprise element in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
This is on the back of Matthews’ first ever Bafana call-up ahead of the Group D qualifiers against Guinea and Eritrea. The team will also face Egypt in an international friendly in October.
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The 26-year-old has contributed to Mamelodi Sundowns success especially last year where they clinched their second CAF Champions League title. This season he has so far contributed two goals and three assists in eight league matches, and also the side reaching the MTN8 final and winning the FIFA Africa-Asian-Pacific Intercontinental Cup.
The Bafana legend said on The DNA Podcast that Matthews is like a machine with its own batteries and can provide an element of surprise for the team.
“Tashreeq Matthews is a kind of a machine that you put a certain type of a battery, but he has his own,” said Khumalo.
“He will take the battery you give him and replace it with his own. He will come with what we call surprising elements. Your batteries don’t work he uses his own. That’s one player that doesn’t go back; he comes at you direct.
“You understand what I’m saying, and also, out of three (chances) he will miss one. So, you’ve got a plus, a goal scorer, a goal poacher. When you change from medium block, he’s doing it very well. When you want to maybe go high, he can also do that.
“So, he’s an all-rounder, and what I like also, Tashreeq, [Yanela] Mbuthuma, [Teboho] Mokoena their endurance capacity is something else. This is my opinion and another person might have a different perspective.
“But what I’ve seen, and we need to give credit where it’s due.”