'Big name players can inspire'

A number of big-name players are captaining their nations at the Fifa World Cup in Russia.

Interestingly, most of them are not skippers at club level.

The biggest question is: are the likes of Senegal's Sadio Mane, Lionel Messi of Argentina and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo leading their countries because of their star status or because of their leadership qualities?

Having captained Bafana Bafana at the World Cup in 2010, Aaron "Mbazo" Mokoena, 37, feels it' is a mixture of both.

"Most of these guys have worked hard and they inspire their teammates. For instance, Messi and Ronaldo have achieved a lot and you need those kind of people to lead," Mokoena told Sowetan yesterday.

"I know that Ronaldo is the first player to arrive for training and the last one to go home, that's the leader you need. Even Messi, the fact that he has achieved a lot motivates people and he deserves to lead his country, since people draw inspiration from him."

Mbazo continued: "For coaches to choose star players as their skippers is another way to motivate other players to work even harder. Big stars like Mane and [Harry] Kane [of England] always have individual targets and by leading the team, they become more purposeful to succeed and to be in the limelight.''

Mokoena is Bafana's most capped player of all time with 107 appearances between 1999 and 2010.