Bafana Bafana CHAN coach Molefi Ntseki has praised Malibongwe Khoza for his man of the match performance in the 1-1 draw with Algeria while also explaining why he used the youngster as a midfielder.
The Mamelodi Sundowns defender was instrumental in Bafana getting the equaliser against the North Africans in their opening match at the tournament hosted for local-based players in Kampala on Friday.
The result saw Bafana in third position in Group C, three points from the log leaders Algeria who have played two games.
Ntseki spoke about the player’s abilities to play both in midfield and at the back calling Khoza a future Bafana first team player.
“Malibongwe Khoza when he was playing in the DDC he played as a midfielder,” said Ntseki after the game.
“And these are the players that I have been tracking from the junior ranks and also getting promoted to the first team in few games he played as a center-back and adding numbers in the midfield.
“And he’s a very intelligent player. He reads the game very well. So in terms of our approach, I think he carried out the plan very well, because he was moving from deep zones into the midfield and also helping us coming from underneath to switch our play and also to give those forward passes.”
“I think the goal that came from his pass is a training session type of a goal to have our midfielders overloading the defense. And for him, with his technical quality, playing such a good pass into Menzi Masuku, we managed to get a goal from that situation.
“I think he’s a good young man and when I project his future in terms of his potential and his performance, I think he’s a future Bafana Bafana player.”
South Africa’s next match at the tournament is against Guinea on Monday.
