Despite being in the form of his life, attacking midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch has been omitted from Bafana Bafana’s preliminary squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON].
African Times can reveal the 32-year-old has failed to make the cut for the tournament starting next month in Morocco, where he is playing club football for Wydad Casablanca.
Bafana Bafana’s preliminary squad will be announced on Monday afternoon.
Lorch was again one of the players to watch on the weekend when he assisted one of the goals as Wydad beat Nairobi United 3-0 in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup. This season, he has a goal involvement of nine (goals and assists) from the same number of matches: five goals and four assists.
However, “Shake My Soul” has still not done enough to convince Broos he belongs in the Bafana Bafana team.
The Belgian made it clear recently that Lorch, who has capped nine times at senior international level, is not needed at the moment.
“You have to make choices. “Lorch was once with us; I think two years ago when we played in Morocco, he was playing very well at (Orlando) Pirates,” said Broos.
“I followed him; he played, then he didn’t play. At Pirates, he dropped out of the team, and then he went to (Mamelodi) Sundowns because Rulani (Mokwena) wanted him.
“But after a few months, he didn’t play anymore. Okay, now he’s playing well in Morocco, but you also have to look at his age. This is not the future; I’m very sorry. This is not the future.”
