Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos revealed it was the right moment to thrust in Relebohile Mofokeng in the 2-0 victory against Lesotho in the FIFA World Cup qualifier at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday evening.

Mofokeng repaid the coach’s faith by slotting the first goal of the game in the second half, playing the full 90 minutes against Likuena, and claiming the man of the match award. 

The win saw Bafana Bafana move to top of the Group C with 10 points after five matches, two ahead of Benin, who drew 2-2 with Zimbabwe on Thursday in Durban.  

 “What I can tell you is that there’s nobody who is a regular in Bafana Bafana because we have 23 players,” Broos said.

“As a coach, you have to see when is the right moment to bring a player, and I think this game was the right moment to bring in Rele. He played a very good game and this is what we need when you put someone in the team, and as a coach you want him to succeed.

“If he doesn’t succeed, then everyone will start to badmouth him saying he is not good. So, we have to help also a little bit with players and I think I did that today with Rele… We saw Rele had confidence, he performed very well and I’m happy about that.”

Bafana’s second goal was scored by another young player Jayden Adams. Broos added that Adams alongside Mofokeng have a bright future ahead of them. 

“Maybe it has to be like that, the two new young boys (Adams & Mofokeng) in the team and they both scored,” the former Cameroonian national team coach said.

“So, this is also something very important for those guys when you are playing your first 90 minutes and they both scored. I think I’ve succeeded as a coach to do that, so I’m not proud of them individually but I’m proud of the team.

“This is a fantastic group with very good players, and with a very good mentality. We also had new guys who had the same mentality; it’s like they were always here.

“I think that is because of the group, this group of the players that were there. So, I’m very proud about the performances of Rele and Jayden, and I’m also proud of the team as well.” 

Mofokeng and Adams will be hoping to start yet again when Bafana Bafana faces Benin at a neutral venue – Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny – in Ivory Coast on Tuesday (18:00).