Hugo Broos slams Mbekezeli Mbokazi over missed flight and MLS move

Mbekezeli Mbokazi missed his flight to link up with the Bafana Bafana squad in camp ahead of AFCON
Mbekezeli Mbokazi missed his flight to link up with the Bafana Bafana squad in camp ahead of AFCONPHILL MAGAKOE / AFP

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos gave a stern warning to Orlando Pirates defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi after the 20-year-old missed his flight from Durban to Johannesburg to link up with the national team in their campa ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations that start next week.

Mbokazi captained Pirates to the Carling Knockout crown in Polokwane on Saturday and immediately went home to Durban before he was due to link up with the club on Monday.

Broos has a zero tolerance attitude towards the professionalism of his player, and has hit out at both Mbokazi and Pirates for the excused they offered.    

“I am not pleased with what he did,” Broos told reporters on Wednesday. “He let us know he missed his flight from Durban yesterday.

“It was the coach of Pirates (Abdeslam) Ouaddou who informed me. He was very angry that Mbokazi missed his flight. These were his (Ouaddou’s) words, that it was an ‘unprofessional attitude’.

“Then Pirates sent me a nonsense message. I will not tell you what it was but it was nonsense. It is worse that the club protects the player.

“This is very bad. You are a 20-year-old guy, and you have been called up to play in the AFCON and in the World Cup next year. We give you a few extra days off … (but) if someone has a good attitude they don’t want the days off and are here on Monday.”

Broos says he has already addressed the situation with the player.  

“I will have a chat with him after training. He is a black guy, but when he comes out of my room, he will be white (with fear).

“I know why (he missed the flight). Suddenly he thinks he is a star. This is the attitude of a star – ‘I decide when I come’.”

Broos also criticised Mbokazi’s move to Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer, when many believe he already has the talent for a big five league in Europe.

“What is he going to do in Chicago?” Broos asked. “They are not even a top team in America. But I know what happened. A nice little woman who is his agent (Basia Michaels) and thinks she knows football is doing what many agents are doing now.

“They are saying, ‘How much (money) can I get?’ If they were clever they would know it is the AFCON and a World Cup (coming), and other teams are better.

“What will he (Mbokazi) do in a big city like that? No, I don’t think it is a good choice.”

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