Mokotjo’s Bafana mojo ...

KAMOHELO Mokotjo is simply pleased to be a part of the senior national squad and would rather people stopped interfering in player selection.

The FC Twente midfielder has been the subject of a longraging debate after he was generally ignored for election by Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba despite his good showing in the Dutch Eredivisie.

But the ever humble Mokotjo is of the view that it is the coach’s prerogative as to who he calls up.

“I know there has been a lot of talk saying this and that but let’s give the coaching staff our undivided support and stop dictating to him who to play and not to play. At the end of the day, it is his head which is on the block if results don’t come.”

He says he is a team player who will support the national team whether he is in the squad or not.

“Football is a team sport and no individual is bigger than the game. I have never been an individual who cracks up under pressure but things being even, I think I am now ready to be given game time at national level.”

And he did get his chance on Friday morning when he came on as a second half substitute when Bafana beat Costa Raica 1-0 in San Jose. The SuperSport United academy graduate is likely to get a run tomorrow when Bafana complete their Central American tour with a clash against Honduras.

The 24-year-old Mokotjo believes he still has enough time to be a key figure for Bafana just as he was for the junior national teams that he represented with aplomb.

“At 24, people might say it is high time I start featuring prominently within the Bafana Bafana set-up but I don’t believe in forcing or rushing things. My time will come,” he said.

Because he has never played professional club football in South Africa though, he is keen to show his fellow countryman what he is made of.

“Very few football fans know me back home because I hardly played football back home hence I am also eager to repay given a chance.”