Orlando Pirates' rising star Relebohile Mofokeng has been praised for his high work-rate and progress, with a lot still expected from the talented player going forward, as indicated by his club coach Jose Riveiro.
For his impressive performances this season, Mofokeng has been named in coach Hugo Broos' final 23-member Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe respectively.
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The 19-year-old is expected to also play a crucial role in the Buccaneers' quest for their Nedbank Cup trophy defence as they will be playing Mamelodi Sundowns in this year's final at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
So far in the prestigious competition, the exciting winger has played in all four matches for Bucs, having scored one goal and he provided an assist.
In the league, on their way to finish in second place and qualification for the CAF Champions League, the youngster featured in 26 matches and with three goals to his name and five assists, to add to his three appearances in the MTN8 which the Soweto giants won earlier in the season.
"Rele is exceptionally smart. I don't feel there's going to be extra pressure or extra confidence, he just wants to play football, and that's what he must do, just play. Everything else is a consequence of his performances and nothing comes for free. So, he knows the road and he know the way to do it," Riveiro said, speaking to journalists.
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"If it's something coming from these calls or all the expectations, I think there's more confidence to play your own football, and at the same time it's obviously also getting the attention of the opponents. As much as you are getting more people talking about you, the opponent is always going to be putting more attention on you, so you need to show that you can also overcome that obstacle and that new challenge when opponents are also planning because of you and that's where Rele is right now. He is in that process of continuing to improve and continuing to develop his own football and trying to be more complete little by little to be close to the football player that he can be which is still coming," the coach added.
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