Hugo Broos hails Teboho Mokoena after 50 caps milestone

By Mazola Molefe
16th November 2025

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos believes Teboho Mokoena is far from reaching his ceiling after the midfielder celebrated his 50th national team appearance in the win over Zambia on Saturday.

South Africa swept aside Chipolopolo 3-1 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with Oswin Appollis, Mohau Nkota and Siphephelo Sithole finding the net.

Mokoena’s milestone, Broos says, underlines just how integral the midfielder has become to the squad and how much more he can still achieve in Bafana colours.

"Teboho has been with the national team every step of the way since I've been the coach, which means he basically played all 50 of his games with me.

"It is a fantastic achievement, and everyone knows that he is very important to us. Everyone saw in the 2nd-half that we missed his game intelligence a bit."

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On the overall performance during the international friendly, Broos had mixed feelings.

"I think we didn't play our best game today. The tempo was too slow, certainly in the first half, but in the moments we played our game, we capatilised on our moments to score, which wasn't the case a few years ago."

Broos adds that the camp during this FIFA break was beyond the match against Zambia, but to build a team for the continental tournament in Morocco next month.

While the Bafana mentor does not rate Zambia as among the best in Africa, Broos felt they were a solid enough opponent to test their playing patterns.