AmaZulu head coach Pablo Franco Martin has expressed his delight at the fact that a number of players from the team will be representing their respective national teams at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.
“It adds a lot of value to the club. We had a lot of AmaZulu players being called up for the preliminary lists. Five players have been called up, which has never happened in the history of this football club,” said Franco.
He also took the opportunity to give credit to Usuthu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa who has been called up to the Bafana Bafana squad and also made the final cut. Franco also gave credit to Riaan Hanamub who will also be heading to AFCON to represent Namibia.
Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos’ final squad for the tournament was announced on the 28th of December, with Mothwa being amongst the three goalkeepers included in the squad.
Despite not having featured often in AmaZulu’s latest games, Franco emphasised how amazing his achievement is and shed light on the reasons for his omission from the starting line-up.
Franco reiterates that Mothwa is fit, playing and training well. Olwethu Mzimela has been featuring in Mothwa’s place and Franco says sometimes in football you need to wait for your moment to feature in the team.
In that same breath, he hailed Mothwa for his commitment to the team and his role as the captain.
Bafana Bafana will be playing their first AFCON match against Mali on Tuesday 16 January 2024, kick off is at 10 PM.
