Orlando Pirates utility right-wing Kamogelo Sebelebele is keen to impress in Bafana Bafana’s colours, and says playing for the Buccaneers has given him the right exposure.
Sebelebele, 23, joined Pirates from TS Galaxy in mid-July. Despite missing the Sea Robbers’ preseason camp in Spain, “Mike Mamosha”, as the lad from Tembisa is nicknamed, has already established himself as one of the club’s important players, scoring two goals in both legs of the MTN8 semifinals against Mamelodi Sundowns to propel Pirates to their fourth Wafa Wafa decider on the trot.
Sebelebele has also scored once in the league. The former Galaxy player’s rich vein of form saw him being rewarded with a Bafana call-up for two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Nigeria, at the Free State Stadium on Friday and next Tuesday.
Both games kick off at 6pm.
“I am happy and excited to be here [in the Bafana camp] … being given the opportunity to represent your country is big,” Sebelebele said.
“I am looking forward to helping the national team qualify for the World Cup. Playing for Pirates has changed a lot of things for me. The support I’ve been getting from everyone is huge and that has been building my confidence.
“I am ready to show people what I have … obviously, when you are playing for the so-called small teams, people don’t really recognise you, so now that I am playing for Pirates people are starting to notice me.”
Bafana coach Hugo Broos values Sebelebele’s traits, likening him to Sundowns’ Thapelo Morena, who has been one of the national team’s influential figures since the Belgian took charge in May 2021. Like Morena, despite being primarily a winger, Sebelebele can also slot in at right-back.
“When a guy like Morena is not with us, then we need someone else with nearly the same qualities,” Broos said. “Who has more of those qualities than the one next to me?” he said, pointing to Sebelebele during a media conference at Dobsonville Stadium on Monday.
“He’s quick, he has good feet, so we always try when certain players are not there to go in the direction of replacing them with players with the same qualities.”
Qualifiers
Bafana’s two qualifiers will be played at the Free State Stadium as previously scheduled after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and Fifa asked for them to be moved.
Caf and Fifa did an inspection of the Free State Stadium pitch on Tuesday and concluded it would be satisfactory for the Group C games.
On Sunday the two organisations issued correspondence to the SA Football Association and Lesotho FA telling them those matches had to be moved to Bloemfontein’s other venue, Dr Molemela Stadium.
It transpired that Caf and Fifa had not sent any officials to inspect the pitch in person and made their decision based on second-hand information. After an inspection on Tuesday, Free State Stadium was passed for both games.
Friday’s match is a home game for Lesotho, but being played in SA due to there being no Caf-approved venue in that country.
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