New Racing Strasbourg coach Patrick Vieira was left salivating by the shift of Bafana Bafana striker Lebo Mothiba as the French side stunned Olympique Lyon at Stade de la Meinau in the first game of the Ligue 1 on Sunday.
Mothiba, who has been mired by injuries, scored as Strasbourg won 2-1 to see former Crystal Palace coach’s tenure start on a positive note, with the former Lille striker featuring until the 81st minute of the game.
It was 1998 World Cup winners coming head-to-head, as Lyon are coached by Laurent Blanc, but the former Arsenal captain’s side were the better of two, scoring two goals through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the 63rd minute before Mothiba added the second in the 75th minute.
Lyon, who had Alexander Lacazette up top, pulled one back when Argentina defender Nicolas Tagliafico scored in the 88th minute. But it was too little too late for Lyon, who were without Anthony Lopes and Dejav Lovren due to the injuries.
“Lebo Mothiba was extraordinary! He works a lot for the team, he spends a lot of time defending. I’m very happy for him. If he maintains this level, he will be able to bring nice things to the team,” said Vieira.
This will be good news for Bafana coach Hugo Broos to see Mothiba finally get his career back on track ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers that begin in November and the AFCON finals in January and February next year in Ivory Coast, as he has not picked him since he was appointed by SAFA in May 2021 .
The 27-year-old last featured for Bafana in a friendly match against Mali in October 2019, the first game for Broos’ predecessor Molefi Ntseki at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Mothiba, who has four goals for Bafana, was a key part of the Bafana side that stunned Egypt in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, setting up Thembinkosi Lorch to score the winner, before Mzansi lost to Nigeria in the quarter-finals.
After the game, Mothiba was celebrated by Strasbourg’s fans in a real goosebump moment.
