In 2019, attacking midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch was walking on water, voted Players' Player of the Year by his peers and then Footballer of the Season by the Premier Soccer League's topflight coaches.
These accolades put pressure on Stuart Baxter, then Bafana Bafana's. coach, to include Lorch in his Africa Cup of Nations squad to Egypt, and when the Englishman ignored the player in all three group stage matches, the criticism that came finally forced his hand.
Baxter, thinking he may be throwing Lorch in at the deep end, named the Orlando Pirates talisman in his starting line-up for the national team's roundof-16 clash against the hosts in one of the biggest games of the tournament.
And that produced a fairy-tale ending ... a Lorch winner five minutes before the referee blew for full time propelled. South Africa to the quarter-finals of the continental competition.
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Soccer Club.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Soccer Club.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
WORLD BEATER
MANCHESTER CITY AND SPAIN MIDFIELDER RODRI HAS BEEN COLLECTING TROPHIES IN HUGE NUMBERS IN RECENT SEASONS AND IS A KEY MAN FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY
WHO ARE CLUB BRUGGE?
Shandre Campbell has recently joined Club Brugge in Belgium, but he is not the first South African to play there. Who are the team known as the Blue-Black?
LOST ART
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE GREAT FREE-KICK TAKERS IN FOOTBALL?
BACK TO THE START
HAASHIM DOMINGO HAS A FRESH START AT CAPE TOWN CITY, WHERE HE COULD TAKE THE LEAGUE BY STORM, ACCORDING TO HIS NEW BOSS
FROM BADGERS TO BRISTOL
SOUTH AFRICA'S LOSS IS THE UK'S GAIN WITH DYNAMIC ROMANEY PINNOCK HAVING TAKEN CHARGE AS THE HEAD OF BRISTOL CITY WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
READY TO PLUNDER
SELAELO RASEBOTJA HAS ARRIVED AT ORLANDO PIRATES WITH BIG EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
CITY OF GOLD
THE GAUTENG PROVINCE, MORE SPECIFICALLY JOHANNESBURG HAVE PRODUCED THE RICHEST RESERVOIR OF TOP FOOTBALLING TALENT FOR SOUTH AFRICA
LONG-TERM TARGET
KAIZER CHIEFS ENDED THEIR LONG PURSUIT OF DEFENDER RUSHWIN DORTLEY WHEN HE WAS SIGNED IN THE LAST TRANSFER WINDOW
REMEMBERING SENZO
THIS MONTH MARKS 10 YEARS SINCE ORLANDO PIRATES AND BAFANA BAFANA GOALKEEPER SENZO MEYIWA WAS TRAGICALLY KILLED
MIRACLE MAN
QUIET AND UNASSUMING, XABI ALONSO HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF THE TOP COACHES IN WORLD FOOTBALL
