Bafana coach Hugo Broos must start Relebohile Mofokeng in the World Cup Qualifier against Lesotho to get goals and build the youngster's experience ahead of Nigeria and Afcon challenges later this year

The diminutive midfielder has consistently demonstrated his ability to rise to the occasion, delivering standout performances in high-pressure matches.

Rele has starred in other high-pressure matches of big consequences like the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs in front of 80,000 fans, facing Champions League defending champions Al Ahly home and away, and playing in domestic cup finals where his club have held the trophy aloft.

Mofokeng's impressive performances in these big games set him apart from his peers. Compared to other young midfielders in the league, the right-footed star has an exciting ability to eliminate defenders and show composure to find the back of the net, and that goal threat is something Broos cannot afford to ignore against Lesotho.

With Bafana Bafana participating in the 2025 AFCON in Morocco later this year, Mofokeng needs First XI international experience ahead of the tournament. There's also the small matter of a crunch World Cup Qualifying tie against West African giants Nigeria in September.

South Africa has been pitted against Egypt, Angola, and Zimbabwe in Group C of the Nations Cup finals and the 1996 champions will be looking to go all the way and win the tournament after clinching a bronze medal at the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast.

Having Mofokeng starting matches could give Bafana an extra edge in attack to unlock the low block, reinforced defence adopted by a number of Africa countries.

Moreover, Bafana strikers like Lyle Foster and Iqraam Rayners could benefit from the creativity of the midfield sensation to score more goals.

Opponents like lowly-ranked, but defensively stubborn, Lesotho are perfect to unleash 'President yama 2000' as he's famously known.

Since receiving his first call-up in June 2024, Mofokeng has featured in five matches for Bafana Bafana, coming on as a late second-half substitute for all his five caps.

'Likuena' as the Lesotho national team is affectionately known, is proving to be one of the most difficult teams to break down in the backline. In their four matches so far in the World Cup Qualifying, they won one match, drew two and only lost once.

Lesotho emphasized their resilience after holding Nigeria to a 1-1 draw away from home, played a goalless stalemate against Benin at home and defeated Zimbabwe 2-0. Interestingly, the Southern region team have only conceded two goals in four World Cup Qualifying matches which highlights their rock-solid performance at the back.

Mofokeng's presence in the starting line-up will present Bafana with opportunities to play short passes in half-spaces to create goal-scoring chances for other attackers.

His first start under the Belgian tactician will assist strikers in front on goal, force errors in Lesotho's defensive lines and hopefully show what a goal threat he is himself.

With Bafana Bafana level on seven points in Group C of the World Cup Qualifiers with Rwanda and Benin, they will be desperate to collect maximum points against Lesotho with a high score line to jump to the summit of the table. Currently, Hugo Broos' troops are second on the log with a +1 Goal Difference (GD), Benin are third also with a GD of +1 and Rwanda top the group with GD of +2.

With the group standings so incredibly tight, it looks like goal difference could make all the difference between automatically qualifying, getting into the play offs, or missing out on the World Cup completely.

Playing the side ranked 149 in the world, at home, should be the perfect opportunity to improve Bafana's GD.

If Broos and his charges are looking for goals against Lesotho, the pacey midfielder may be pivotal with his goal-scoring threat and ability to pull defences apart.

The injury setback to the two creative midfielders for Bafana in Themba Zwane and Patrick Maswanganyi could open doors for Mofokeng to bag a place in the starting XI.

'Mshishi' has been missing for club and country since October 2024 after he picked up an Achilles heel injury while on national team duty against Congo in Brazzaville.

Broos has backed 'Tito' as Zwane's replacement while he recovers but the Pirates man was withdrawn at the last minute from the squad after sustaining a knock at training.

The talented duo have shared responsibilities of creating goals for Bafana in the number 10 role and their absence is a big blow for the crucial clash.

But Broos should look no further than Pirates 2-1 triumph over Sundowns if he needs proof of how Mofokeng can raise his game and drive his team to victory in the absence of Maswanganyi.

That match proved that Mofokeng has all the qualities and the personality to lift the team on his shoulders and that's a reason enough for the ex-Cameroon tactician to trust the youngster.

ORLANDO PIRATES

BAFANA BAFANA

RELEBOHILE MOFOKENG

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

HUGO BROOS