Aaron Mokoena has hailed Bongani Khumalo for his defensive display in South Africa's opening game.
Skipper says Khumalo has "risen to the challenge" in opener
Aaron Mokoena has hailed fellow centre-back Bongani Khumalo for his defensive display in South Africa's 1-1 draw with Mexico.
Four months ago, Khumalo looked certain to miss out on a place in Carlos Alberto Parreira's squad for the World Cup - trailing the likes of Matthew Booth, Morgan Gould and Nasief Morris for a place in the heart of the Bafana Bafana back-line.
But loss of form for Booth, an injury to Gould and Morris' failure to impress the coach have seen the SuperSport United skipper dramatically rise to the top of the pecking order.
And Portsmouth's Mokoena reckons the 23-year-old is the future of South African football after an assured performance in the Group A clash in Johannesburg.
"I have been happy to play with any defender that I can play with but this young boy has risen to the challenge," said the South Africa captain, who was at fault for Rafael Marquez's equaliser in the opening game of the tournament.
"Bongani has been playing in a way that you can see he is the future in our national team and it was the same against Mexico, because again he did a very good job in defence."
Khumalo was just pleased to have been given such an opportunity in such a key game.
He added: "It was exciting to have been selected in a World Cup opening match.
"Of course, at first there were nerves, but then at the end of the day it was just another football match that had to be played."
