Johannesburg — Thembinkosi Lorch says seeing his name in the Bafana Bafana preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers was the fuel that drove him to play his best game for Orlando Pirates last season.
On May 16, Lorch’s name was drafted into Bafana’s 37-man preliminary squad that would face Morocco in the Afcon qualifiers after Zimbabwe’s suspension appeal was turned down by FIFA.
This would be the first time Lorch’s name reappeared in the Bafana set-up, let alone under coach Hugo Broos, in over two years since his heroics in the Afcon finals against hosts Egypt back in 2019.
A win for Lorch and Co. in the CAF Confederation Cup final on May 20 wouldn’t only guarantee them continental glory, but it would engrave Lorch’s name in the 23-man final squad for the qualifiers.
Lorch had a bittersweet game for the Buccaneers in the continental showpiece final where they lost to RS Berkane. He won the Man of the Match award after scoring the equaliser before missing a spot kick.
So, with a spot at Bafana still unsecured, Lorch defied the African disappointment and tiredness to churn out his best performance for Pirates last term in their 4-1 win over Maritzburg United at home.
Lorch opened the scoring spree before assisting the three other goals to Kwame Peprah, Deon Hotto and Kabelo Dlamini to mark his long-awaited return into the Bafana set-up under coach Broos.
“It was a tough game because we played the final before the Maritzburg game,” Lorch told the SAFA media department while on camp this week. “But the coach told us that we must keep on pushing.”
Lorch was pushing for two things against Maritzburg: getting into the Bafana final squad and helping the team edge closer to qualifying for African football. But only the former prevailed in the end.
“When I also saw my name in the preliminary 37-man squad, I said: ‘No, it’s time for me to push now, I need to see my name in the final 23 man.’ It was a good game,” Lorch recalled of the game.
“I managed to score my first goal of the season and assisted three goals, and I got the Man of the Match award. That game gave me confidence to say ‘I am back’ even though my body was tired.”
No one would fault Lorch for thinking he’s back, given that he endured a groin and shoulder injury in the early stages of the season before returning back to full fitness in the twilight of the campaign.
“To be honest, I think the call up was too soon. I didn’t expect it, although I knew that it was going to come because my performance was going up and I was helping the team win games,” he said.
“I remember before the season started, I got a groin injury for six weeks and when I came back, I had a shoulder dislocation and I had to go for an operation. That kept me out for almost three months.”
Now fully fit and focused on the job, Lorch will be eager to inspire Bafana to a win over Group K’s opponents Morocco in the Afcon qualifier in Rabat on Thursday before facing Liberia in September.
IOL Sport