Smith Feeling At Home In Bafana Squad
Bafana Bafana defender Tylon Smith has expressed joy that his teammates in the national team have welcomed him warmly, especially Oswin Appollis, with whom he is now close friends.
The 20-year-old joined the camp of Bafana in Pretoria earlier this week following his inclusion in the 25-man squad of coach Hugo Broos for the Africa Cup of Nations scheduled to kick off later this month in Morocco.
This is the first time the former Stellenbosch defender has joined the senior national team, having previously played for Amajita, where he helped the South African youth national team win the U20 AFCON and also reached the U20 FIFA World Cup knockout stage this year.
The 2024/25 DStv Diski Challenge Player of the Season also won the Player of the Tournament award in the U20 AFCON in Morocco.
Smith is also one of the youngest players in this squad alongside Shandre Campbell and Mbekezeli Mbokazi, as they’re all under the age of 21 years, and they were also teammates in Amajita.
“For me, the players really welcomed me nicely, and I’m close with Oswin Appollis,” he said.
“The reason I’m close to him, I think it’s that we both speak Afrikaans, and Ronwen (Williams) also. But I felt welcomed when I came here.”
Smith, who is now playing for the English team Queens Park Rangers, also added what he has learned from his career so far, since he is making waves while still young.
“What I’ve learned is never give up, I know I’m still young, as I’m 20 years old, and I also know that it was a massive move for me from Stellenbosch to QPR,” he added.
“I just said to myself that I have to stay calm and do what is expected of me.
“Receiving this call-up, I told myself that when I come here, I will do what is expected of me to do. I told myself that I would learn from the experienced players here and take that to help me grow as a player.”
Smith’s Bafana Bafana will open the AFCON against Angola on 22 December, then the second game will be against Egypt on Boxing Day, and the last game of their Group B will be against Zimbabwe on 29 December as well.
