Polokwane City coach Jozef Vukusic has weighed in on the club's captain Jabu Maluleke's exclusion from Bafana Bafana, implying he hopes his charge can still get a senior national team call-up if he continues to work hard.
In his football career that spans over a decade, Maluleke, 36, has never played for Bafana, despite being considered one of the most consistent midfielders of his generation.
He was recently named the league's Player of the Month for October.
"I cannot say if I am surprised or not that he has never played for Bafana. But when he plays like this, maybe the [national team] selectors might consider him. All my players must keep on working and success will come."
Since making his top-flight debut back in the 2002/2003 season for Dynamos, Maluleke has amassed 347 top-flight games, scoring 46 goals and he has over 50 assists.
Maluleke belongs to the national team - Vukusic
Polokwane City coach Jozef Vukusic has weighed in on the club's captain Jabu Maluleke's exclusion from Bafana Bafana, implying he hopes his charge can still get a senior national team call-up if he continues to work hard.
In his football career that spans over a decade, Maluleke, 36, has never played for Bafana, despite being considered one of the most consistent midfielders of his generation.
He was recently named the league's Player of the Month for October.
"I cannot say if I am surprised or not that he has never played for Bafana. But when he plays like this, maybe the [national team] selectors might consider him. All my players must keep on working and success will come."
Since making his top-flight debut back in the 2002/2003 season for Dynamos, Maluleke has amassed 347 top-flight games, scoring 46 goals and he has over 50 assists.
"He is an important player for this football club. He is capable of changing the rhythm of the game at any time. When we want to play a quick passing game, we rely on him and he's also useful when we decide to keep the ball," noted Vukusic, the Coach of the Month winner for last month.
Vukusic's troops are arguably one of the league's surprise packages thus far, having gone seven matches without a defeat before their momentum was derailed by Orlando Pirates, beating them 2-1 a week ago.
City also drew their last match against AmaZulu on Sunday.
"Our ultimate target is top eight. We aim to collect many points from our four remaining games of the year," Vukusic said.