Mothiba credits Diambars connection with Viera for his revival

Mothiba played for Bafana Bafana for the first time since November 2019 in a goalless draw with Namibia over the weekend due to injury. When Mothiba arrived, he says, the former Crystal Palace coach intended to build a team around him. 

"The strikers that were playing there, they were leaving some of them. Strasbourg were recruiting new players, young players", he said.

"He spoke to me and said 'Listen, Lebo, because you've been here for a very long time and you know the league I want you to stay and I'll give you confidence, I'll give you game time. I believe in you with the qualities that you have. Keeping the ball, making those runs behind the defence. That's what we need.'

And then from there we did the preseason and he gave me that chance", he revealed.

Mothiba came through the Diambars Academy, in Boksburg. He says the Arsenal legend and 1998 World Cup winner also had links to Diambars, which helped their relationship. 

"He came to South Africa in 2010. I was playing for the academy called Diambars. He was part of that academy. So when he came to Strasbourg, he saw me. He called me and we spoke."

Mothiba is returning to Bafana Bafana at a time when the strikers are doing admirably. Frontline strikers Lyle Foster in the English Premier League (EPL), Bongokuhle Hlongwane in the Major League Soccer(MSL) in the United States, and Zakhele Lepasa in the local Premier Soccer League (PSL) are all hitting high notes.

He knows securing a spot for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast will require incredible effort.

"I never think of competition. We're all learning. I'm here to learn, I'm learning a lot from them, and they're also learning a lot from me. We all have different styles of play, that's why most of the time I focus on myself not on others and what they are doing."