Lorch’s Reaction To Bafana Call-up

Orlando Pirates midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch has reacted to being recalled to Bafana Bafana after it’s been a while since he donned the national team jersey.

Lorch made a name for himself when he scored that famous winning goal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations when Bafana knocked out the hosts Egypt in a stadium that was painted in red jerseys of the Pharaohs.

Since then Lorch would perhaps be the first name to be called always when Bafana coaches are doing the selection. However, injuries hit his form hard and he found it not easy to have his name back on the national team squad.

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Lorch says it wasn’t an easy season for him and he’s looking forward to the match. “First of all I want to thank everyone who supported me,” Lorch told the SAFA media team. “It wasn’t an easy season with the injuries but I am happy to be back with Bafana Bafana and I am looking forward to the game.

“To be honest, it was sooner than I expected, but I knew that it was going to come because my performances were improving and I was helping the team to win games.

“Before the season started, I got a groin injury which sidelined me for six weeks, then when I came back I dislocated my shoulder which needed an operation and kept me out for, maybe, three months. I came back in early December but by then I had gained weight and I had to work on my fitness.

“I think I am getting there,” he added. “I’m not going to put pressure on myself, I’m going to take it slowly until I reach my potential. But I am getting there, and you can see in my last few games [for Pirates] I gave my all.”

Hugo Broos speaks about ‘critics’

As Bafana are gearing up for the first match of the AFCON qualifiers, their mentor Hugo Broos spoke about how well they did in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers but still, there are critics.

“Before we talk about the qualifiers for Afcon, I want to go back to the qualifiers of the World Cup. For me, it was a success with a disappointing end because we lost the last game,” he told SAFA.

“For me, it was a success, we had a new, young team and from the six games, we won four, drew one and lost the other one.

We had 13 points, and with a little bit of research, it says over the last 12 years, in all the qualifiers that SA played for Afcon, you have never had 13 points,” Broos continued.

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“The maximum was 12 points, and that means this was not bad what we did — but still, after our match against Ghana, there were critics. I didn’t understand it, and it was worse after the friendly games against Guinea and France.

“I don’t understand why suddenly there were so many critics, but I can assure you that those critics don’t affect me because it is short-sighted and cheap. People are saying the coach is not good and so on.

“I don’t understand why suddenly there were so many critics, but I can assure you that those critics don’t affect me because it is short-sighted and cheap. People are saying the coach is not good and so on.

“It doesn’t affect me, it doesn’t put pressure on me, but it motivates me. It motivates me to prove all these people wrong, and this is part of the job of a trainer,” he added.