Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela is excited about the future of Relebohile Mofokeng and Thalente Mbatha after their recent exploits with the national team.
Mbatha made his debut as a substitute against Uganda and netted a stoppage time equaliser, while the teenage sensation Mofokeng played an impressive cameo to help drive the team after falling behind.
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Mbatha replicated his performance in Juba, four days later, coming off the bench to net a 94th minute winner as they downed South Sudan 3-2 to move level on four points at the top of Group K alongside the Cranes.
“We’re so proud of them, really, to them, it’s only the beginning, they can look forward now with confidence and belief that they belong in that space,” Maela said.
“And yeah they just need to keep on improving, stay humble and hopefully they get to achieve many more caps and achieve big, big things with the national team.”
Deon Hotto and Olisa Ndah were also on international duty with Namibia and Nigeria respectively, which Maela duly noted adds positive experience to their squad as they look to launch an assault on the CAF Champions League this season.
“I’ve always said international matches help a lot, you grow as a player, you grow as a person but also you now start to look after yourself more, you play more matches, and the fatigue gets more,” he explained.
“But the experience will help us a lot, not only now for [Jwaneng] but in the long run and we’re looking forward to having the guys back. You talk about the experience with the national team, you have to travel, you come back – the turnaround of matches, there’s not much time.
“You need to put more emphasis on recovery and look after yourself in that aspect to perform to the best of your abilities when the team needs you.”
Pirates take on Jwaneng Galaxy at the National Stadium on Satuday afternoon in a repeat of last season’s 2nd preliminary round qualifier, which saw the Botswana champions eliminate them for the place in the group stages.
