Former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Brian Baloyi hopes national team head coach Hugo Broos will be lenient towards midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch and include him in his selections between now and the World Cup in June. Baloyi feels the Wydad Casablanca player would significantly boost Bafana’s offensive dimension. Baloyi said 32-year-old Lorch’s attacking prowess, flair, creativity and ability to perform in high-pressure situations were some of the missing aspects of Bafana’s recent Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) campaign, where they were knocked out in the round of 16 by Cameroon.
Lorch has been in good goal-scoring and assist form for Moroccan giants Wydad in the Botola Pro and performed well in the Fifa Club World Cup in 2025. Those efforts have not been enough to convince Broos to recall him. When questioned about the exclusion of Lorch in his squads leading up to Afcon, Broos said: “You have to make choices …” “This is not the future.
I’m very sorry … Even though he’s playing well in Morocco, I don’t see any reason to take him with the team.” Baloyi, who made 24 appearances for Bafana, hopes Broos will change his mind regarding the former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns player. “We want to see the best team on the pitch for Bafana and the best attacking players. “We have been playing attacking football, but we need to take it up a gear in the next four or five months,” he said.
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“We need some new inclusions to the team to do that. I’m hopeful the coach can be a bit lenient towards Lorch. He is currently playing well, and he should be given a chance in the next friendlies.”
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