Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has lauded skipper Ronwen Williams’ team spirit for offering to make way for TS Galaxy goalkeeper Meslusi Buthelezi so he could earn his first international cap in Saturday's friendly win against Sierra Leone.
Buthelezi made his debut when he came on as a substitute in the second half as Bafana crushed lowly-ranked Sierra Leone 4-0 at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.
A brace from Themba Zwane and goals from another debutant Mihlali Mayambela and Aubrey Modiba helped Broos register his biggest win as a Bafana coach.
After the match, Broos explained that Williams offered to go off so that Buthelezi, who has had a great run for Galaxy since the beginning of the year, could get to play.
“Another thing I have to mention is that with 10 minutes before the game ended and the score 4-0, your captain came to the side and said, ‘Coach if you want you can change me’, which shows the mentality and friendship in the group,” Broos said in the post-match press conference.
“This is also very important when as a captain you give a chance to a new player, a guy who is in the national team for the first time and you take the initiative to go to the coach and say, 'If you want you can change me'.
“I’m very happy there’s a great atmosphere within the group. I saw it with the way they treat each other. It’s very good.
“Again, it should not stop today, and go on to the next game on Tuesday. I think if we can do the same thing it will help us for the future and certainly to have a positive result for the game [2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia] here in March,” Broos said.
Bafana round off their September Fifa international window programme hosting Botswana at FNB Stadium on Tuesday (6pm).
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