At 32 years old, Thembinkosi Lorch’s hopes of a return to the Bafana Bafana fold have been dashed.

The Wydad Casablanca forward has been performing admirably, leading to calls for his return to the national team setup. He has nine Bafana Bafana caps, with his last appearance coming about two years ago.

This season, he has three goals and three assists in seven matches in the CAF Confederation Cup and Botola Pro League. However, this has done nothing to convince Broos to consider Lorch.

“You have to make choices, that’s all, and Lorch was once with us. I think three years ago, when we played in Morocco (June 2023), and he was playing very well at (Orlando) Pirates at that moment,” said Broos.

“His performance (in Bafana) was not good, and I followed him again, and he played, then he didn’t play, and he left Pirates and joined (Mamelodi) Sundowns because Rulani (Mokwena) wanted him.

“But after a few months, he didn’t play anymore, so, okay, now he’s playing well in Morocco, but you have to also look at his age. He is not the future, I’m very sorry, and if I don’t have other options, okay, maybe I should take him – maybe.”

Interestingly, Broos had the same view about Sundowns playmaker Themba Zwane, but “Mshishi” eventually got the nod and was draughted into the national team going on to reach 50 caps.

“It also happened four years ago with Themba, and I wanted to look for options, but I didn’t find them, so I had to come back and take Themba, and it turned out to be a very good decision that I took him because you saw what happened with the team,” explained Broos.

“But, again, for Lorch at the moment I don’t see. Even if he has good performances in Morocco, I don’t see any reason why I should take him with the team.”