Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos on Relebohile Mofokeng returning to form: I think this is the Rele we know, an intelligent player with good passes

Relebohile Mofokeng is back at his best self.

Mofokeng is now playing the football he nearly lost because of the out ‘noise’.

This is how Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos sees the nippy Orlando Pirates midfielder.

“Rele was, at periods, still looking for himself, but he quickly became a star here in South Africa. Once you reach that level, things become worse and more difficult and the same happened with Rele. There were so much things on his mind that he forgot to play football, and this is totally normal. I dont blame him for that – when you're such a young guy and suddenly everyone wants to be around you, i'ts difficult to manage. That's why he didn't have such a good season last year at Pirates," said Broos earlier this week ahead of Bafana Bafana friendly matches against Panama.

"So now this season, little by little, you saw him coming. And now you see Rele showing what evereybody wants to see: a very good player, also playing in a different position. He plays more centrally. I think this is the future for Rele. He is not a winger. He can play on the wings against an opponent who is not so strong but against stronger opponents, he will not play a good game because he's not a winger."

"He doesn't have that explosivity. He doesn't have that on the line – dribbling players. That is not his quality. His quality is intelligence – his quality to make good passes and use the spaces.

"That is what Rele is best at. I think now the coach from Pirates will give him that position. And it's not because he scored three times yesterday that we are thinking, 'Ah you see'. No, no. This is something we've known is his best position. And he's coming, that I can tell you, to Bafana Bafana to play that position and not on the wings anymore."