In this edition of Supporters Forum, Bafana Bafana's number one supporter, Joy 'Mama Joy' Chauke, pleads with the national side's technical team not to risk another setback on Friday.
Bafana playing Lesothoin what is an 'away' game for them at the Free State Stadium as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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In a display of good neighbourliness, or pure mind games depending on how you look at it, Lesotho have advised South Africa not to include Teboho Mokoena in the team due to the controversy that continues to surround his eligibility status.
Mama Joy has appealed to the technical team to heed this warning and excuse the Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder from the remaining qualifiers.
"I'm at the SAFA headquarters as I speak to you right now, waiting for the transport guy to come and pick us up. We are paying for our own transport and we come from different areas like Vaal, Tembisa, Alexandra, and Soweto. We are on our way to Free State," says Chauke.
"We are going to dominate in the stands as usual. This is a crucial match for us. We need the points today so that if we happen to lose the first round, we will still remain at the top of our group.
“With Bafana Bafana, I have no fear. Whoever steps onto the field will perform well. So, there’s no need to play Mokoena if we are not sure about the situation. I won’t miss Mokoena today, we have enough players to cover for him.
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"I see South Africa collecting all six points from these two games, including the one against Nigeria on Tuesday," she added.
Chauke is confident Bafana won't lose to their archrivals Nigeria next week.
"They won't beat us. We'd rather come out of that game with one point. In terms of attackers, I have Oswin Appollis, Relebohile Mofokeng, (Iqraam) Rayners... the list goes on. These older players from Lesotho and Nigeria won’t be able to cope.
"I'm down on my knees, pleading with the technical team to please not include the 'suspended' player. He must sit in the stands. Let’s not act as if we don’t have enough players.”
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
