Mokotjo thankful for Bafana lifeline
Bafana Bafana midfielder Kamohelo Mokotjo has paid tribute to SAFA for helping resolve his citizenship issue which allowed him to feature in the national team's 3-1 win over Guinea-Bissau over the weekend.
Mokotjo and former Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba had a falling out last year which resulted in the 26-year-old taking up a Dutch citizenship, where he currently plays club football.
With Owen de Gama serving as caretaker coach of the national team, Mokotjo received a call-up for the friendly matches against Guinea-Bissau and Angola.
The midfielder's decision to relinquish his South African citizenship came back to bite him last week, as SAFA and the department of home affairs had to work around the clock to reinstate his citizenship.
Luckily, that was sorted out on the eve of Saturday’s clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Bafana made fairly easy work of the West African outfit, with a 3-1 win providing plenty of momentum going into Tuesday’s friendly against Angola.
Kermit Erasmus, Andile Jali and Percy Tau scored for South Africa, the latter grabbing a goal on debut.
Meanwhile Mokotjo said the uncertainty of his availability during the week wasn’t a concern in the build up to the match.
“It didn’t affect me. I trusted in SAFA, they told me to attend camp and that they would sort the matter out and that’s what I did,” Mokotjo said after the victory.
“Coach Owen was very
happy to have me back and told me he would give me a chance if everything was
sorted out and he did. I’m also very happy that for once, the South African
public got to see what I have to offer.”
Injury concerns
The win over Guinea-Bissau also left a couple of players nursing injuries. Thulani Hlatswayo, Erick Mathoho, Andile Jali and Dean Furman all missed training on Sunday.
Bafana meet Angola on Tuesday in East London. Kickoff is at 19h00.