With midfielder Themba Zwane starring in Mamelodi Sundowns’ 1-0 win over Moroka Swallows in the MTN8 on Saturday, his club coach Rulani Mokwena believes the country will struggle to find his successor.
Zwane scored the only goal of the game to dump the Dube Birds out of the cup and send Downs into the semifinals.
Mokwena says the 34-year-old midfielder is a rare breed.
“Mshishi is so intelligent. I’ve said so many times, we are going to struggle to find another Themba Zwane, South Africa is gonna struggle because it’s a prototype. He’s a space navigator. Think of Waze for example, Waze says go left, go right but maybe even a couple of kilometres ahead of you and it’s not in its own way of finding where you want to go. The destination is very clear,” Mokwena said
The coach adds that Zwane brings the same quality to Bafana Bafana as well.
“He goes to Bafana and you see the same thing. He has to play with Zakhale Lepasa, he has to play with Lyle Foster and he’s still the same Themba. But with possibilities of helping the team to create possibilities offensively and only intelligent football players can do that and Mshishi’s got a brain that is second to none,” the coach explained.
Mokwena further debunked the misinformation on his decision not to use Zwane for the full 90 minutes at his age.
“People say ‘But why is he always taking Themba Zwane off?’ and they try to stir something negative. Themba Zwane is 34 years old, you can think of other players that are 34 years old.
How do they play 90 minutes every three/four days? It doesn’t even happen in Europe, it’s not possible. So, people expect me to play Mshishi every three/four days, 90 minutes.
