Elias Mokwana: I had lost hope of returning to the Bafana Bafana after almost a year without a call up and also loss of form while at Esperance

Elias Mokwana’s hope is revived.

The Bafana Bafana international is back in the reckoning for the national side after almost a year of not receiving a call up.

And his absence, he said, nearly killed his dream of playing for the national side again.

The former Sekhukhune United midfielder admits he never thought he will part of the national side headed to Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations.

“I think I did lose some hope at some point,” he told the media this week.

“It wasn’t easy at first. As we all know, when I got to Esperance, things didn’t go as I expected.”

Mokwana also paid homage to his Al-Hazem Tunisian-born coach, Jalel Kadri, who Mokwana said ensured he returns to form.

“But when I made the move to Al-Hazem, I think I started to enjoy myself a little bit better, training well, and the coach also was encouraging me each and every day, and he also believed in me. That’s why, I guess, I’m starting to pick up my form again,” Mokwana explained.

“With my coach, I think I had hope. He gave me hope. He, he was working with me with extra sessions, and he always believed in me, and he told me that I’ll get back into the team.”

Mokwana and Bafana face Ghana on Tuesday at Dobsonville Stadium in a friendly international ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The 35th edition of the biennial spectacle sees Bafana in the same group as Angola, Egypt and Zimbabwe.