The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is around the corner, and Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has had a heart-to-heart with midfielder Sipho Mbule.

Mbule, 27, has made it to the team for the second time in a row, after missing out since 2021, as Broos looks for a permanent replacement for playmaker Themba Zwane, who has been battling injuries.

“You know, I told him, Sipho, when he came for camp, and I said, ‘Sipho, this is the second chance you get; don’t spoil it.’ He was with us from the first day I was here (in 2021), but yeah, there were some other things—I think more important to him than football in certain moments,” said Broos.

“He’s a guy with much talent, but when you see his career—even when he played in good teams or he was in good teams—he didn’t have the career that matches his talent.”

True to Broos’s words, Mbule, nicknamed MasterChef, only boasts six Bafana Bafana caps, and the observers believe he should be sitting on far more had he focused 100% at club level, where he has allegedly had run-ins with his clubs for the love of the nightlife.

But to be fair, Mbule is on a good run at Orlando Pirates, whom he joined in June.

“So, I think (the talk) motivated him. I told him also that, ‘Look, if you do what you have to do and show me, there’s AFCON in December; don’t forget it.’ He did what we asked of him, and I gave him the confidence to be with us again and to do the same thing again. He should help us… he should help the team enormously,” added Broos, who still harbours hope of Zwane’s return to provide Bafana Bafana with more options.

“Let’s hope that Themba can come back, and if we have Mbule and Themba, it should be a very good thing for our team. But we will see how things are going with Themba.”

Bafana Bafana will play Zimbabwe and Rwanda in FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 10 and 14 October, respectively.

The team will then travel to Morocco in December for the AFCON, hopeful to improve on their third position from the previous edition.