MC Alger coach, Rulani Mokwena, has tipped Thembinkosi Lorch to follow in the footsteps of his fellow South African international, Themba Zwane, and earn a recall to the Bafana Bafana squad.
Mokwena, who coached Lorch at Mamelodi Sundowns and later signed him on loan at Wydad Casablanca, believes that Lorch has the talent and potential to make it back into the national team.
“Lorch just needs to look at Themba Zwane as a source of inspiration,” Mokwena said in an exclusive interview with SAFJA on Wednesday.
“Themba Zwane was in the same position. I remember saying to ‘Mshishi’ that you have to be so good that it’s difficult to ignore you. And that’s exactly what he did.
“Zwane was so good that even though the coach (Hugo Broos) at the time didn’t want him for reasons that we have to respect, and also to the credit of Hugo Broos, he mentioned that it was one of the things he got wrong.”
Mokwena’s comments come after Broos revealed that Lorch is not the future of the national team due to his age. However, Mokwena believes that if Lorch continues to perform at his current level, he will be hard to ignore.
“That means if he can rescind his opinion on Themba Zwane, I’m sure if Lorch continues this way (he will be called to Bafana),” Mokwena added.
“I’m hearing good things about him from the Wydad president (Hicham Ait Menna) about his conduct, professionalism, and his performances.”
Lorch has been in excellent form for Wydad this season, scoring crucial goals and providing assists in the Botola Pro League and CAF Confederation Cup. Despite his impressive performances, he was left out of the Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming international friendly game against Zambia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
Zwane helped Bafana qualify for the last edition of the AFCON and also won the Bronze medal in the tournament. He was also involved in some games of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers before getting injured last year.
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