Malibongwe Khoza has expressed his surprise at receiving a call up to the Bafana Bafana side for South Africa’s last two FIFA World Cup qualifying group games.
Speaking at the side’s media day on Monday, the 21-year-old stated he was not expecting a senior international call-up so early in his professional career.
“I didn’t think it was going to come this early, but I was always working, always motivated to make sure that I work my next one, make sure that I perform every game,” said Khoza.
Khoza was selected to represent South Africa at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in August. The tournament features only players who play their club football in their home country.
The defender was mainly utilised in midfield and started all four of South Africa’s matches. The youngster was called upon as clubs were reluctant to part with their stars at the beginning of the season. For this reason, the team sent is not viewed as the “real” Bafana Bafana side.
Khoza explained that his club, Mamelodi Sundowns, released him for the tournament to gain experience at the international level.
“[Sundowns] let me know that when I go to CHAN, they are letting me go because they want me to gain experience, national team experience, because I didn’t have before. So I went there and got some experience, some minutes, then I came back, then I started playing more and getting my confidence back,” he said.
CHAN, alongside COSAFA, is looked down on by players and clubs, with the regular national team stars not featuring in the competitions. Khoza expressed that these tournaments offer players on the fringes the opportunity to gain international experience and prove themselves, but should be taken more seriously.
“As players, we tend to look down [on] COSAFA and CHAN, like you mentioned, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be that way. But it’s a way of getting experience to some players who can’t maybe break into the national team, Bafana Bafana, but then when you go to COSAFA and tournaments like CHAN, you tend to get some experience of national team, and you kind of grow and learn how other countries play,” said Khoza.
Since returning from CHAN, Khoza has become a regular starter for Sundowns due to injuries in the squad. He has played in seven of the club’s 10 league games this season and opened his goal-scoring account in a 4-1 win over Richards Bay at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on 27 September.
The 21-year-old has shown his ability at the country’s top level, earning his way into the national squad. In order to retain his place in the Bafana Bafana squad, Khoza emphasised the need to remain consistent and healthy.
“First of all, I think it’s to be consistent. Obviously, it’s not an easy thing to do as a player, because sometimes you have downfalls, but you have to make sure that you don’t have a big difference, a big gap in terms of your performance in each and every game. So you must make sure that, like they mentioned with injuries, you must take care of yourself, and continue being consistent, that’s all.”
With a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the line, Bafana Bafana will face Zimbabwe at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Friday before turning its attention to Rwanda, who the side will face at the Mbombela Stadium in Mbombela on Tuesday.
