“He is a Fighter” – Broos Highlights One Flaw In Mbokazi
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has lauded the potential of 20-year-old defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi, while cautioning that the youngster’s “loss of tempo” remains a challenge as the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms.
Since his senior debut in 2025, the U.S.-based star has emerged as Broos’ preferred left-sided center-back.
After sitting out Friday’s clash against Panama due to jet lag, Mbokazi made a thunderous impact at DHL Stadium on Tuesday, scoring a spectacular long-range goal that mirrored his near-miss against Nigeria last year, but Bafana lost 2-1.
Despite the heroics, Broos is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding the final squad announcement on 18 May.
“First of all, I will not tell you this one will go to the World Cup, and this one will not go, you have to wait until the 18th of May when I announce the final squad,” Broos said.
“If you talk about Mbokazi, I think everyone saw that he is a very good defender. The only thing about him is that he is young, and sometimes he loses tempo and has to be careful with that.
“But he is someone who wants to fight, and I like someone with that mentality. Sometimes he starts to be nervous, and then he loses tempo, but he will learn quickly.”
Beyond individual performances, Broos expressed concern over the team’s clinical edge, noting that Bafana converted only two of roughly ten clear-cut chances across the two friendlies.
“This is something we have to work on, and it is also something that has to do with the confidence of the players,” he added.
“When you have those chances that we had in these two games, it was a little bit too much to miss them all. I think we had maybe 10 chances in these games, and we managed to score only two times, and that is not enough.
“But you can work on it, and it is difficult for me to work on this because the players are now going, and I will be able to see them again at the end of May. This is something that has to do with confidence when you are in front of the goal and put the ball in the goal.
“So, yeah, it concerns me because in these two games we missed many chances, but on the other side, I think we proved before that we can score easily.
“But I know we were playing with African teams, and it is different when playing against other nations, but we will work on this, and we will learn a lot in these games.”
South Africa opens their World Cup Group A campaign on 11 June against Mexico—a high-stakes rematch of the 2010 opening fixture—before facing South Korea and Czechia.
