Broos Impressed By Mofokeng’s Humility Despite Rising Star Status
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has expressed his delight with the grounded attitude of rising star attacker Relebohile Mofokeng. Mofokeng, despite the recent surge in publicity, remains humble according to Broos.
The 19-year-old is part of the Bafana Bafana squad currently gearing up for their crucial FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria (away) and Zimbabwe (home) scheduled for Friday and Tuesday respectively.
Mofokeng is in the Bafana Bafana camp after his heroic performance for Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup final against Mamelodi Sundowns at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. His winning goal in the dying minutes of the match, a clever nutmeg on Bongani Zungu followed by a deft finish past Ronwen Williams, secured the trophy for the Pirates.
This victory marks a double triumph for the team this season, having previously clinched the MTN8 title against Sundowns in Durban last year.
“He is a very humbled guy, really,” said Broos at the press conference on Monday in Soweto.
“I was very happy to see him on Monday and he had respect for everyone. You can see he knows that he’s a young player and that he needs to have respect for all those players who have played 10 times more than him.
“He was fantastic, but he knows he still has a long way to go. I see it in his attitude and I’m very happy with that because when you receive so much publicity like he has done this season and scoring a winning goal on Saturday, but still, he remains a nice guy and I am very happy that he’s like that.”
Broos continued, “So, I hope he stays like he’s now. The quality is there, nobody can discuss that. But being humbled like he is now with all the publicity around him and talks of him going to Europe or whatever, he still the same Mofokeng of 10 months and I’m very happy about that.”
Mofokeng’s stellar season also sees him as a frontrunner for the PSL Young Player of the Season award for the 2023/24 season.