Ndwandwe should be with Bafana, says Arrows coach

Golden Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi has spoken glowingly of his "intelligent" utility central midfielder Velemseni Ndwandwe, vowing to recommend him to Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos.

The 29-year-old Ndwandwe has been one of Arrows' instrumental players in the last three seasons. The lad from Empangeni, northern KZN, put in another impressive display to help Abafana Bes'thende beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

Nduduzo Sibiya and Knox Mutizwa were on target for the home side, making sure they completed a league double over hapless Amakhosi, who scored via Yusuf Maart.

"I rate him very highly. The way I rate him, I think he could easily play for any team in this country and it's not something I've only seen now that I am working for Arrows. I think if you can speak to him, he knows how much I've always wanted to have him around, but unfortunately, at times, these things don't happen the way you want,'' Mngqithi said of Ndwandwe.

"I believe he is national team material and I'll try the best I can do to also speak to Hugo to look at him because I honestly think he's in a class of his own... strong defensively, very powerful offensively, very intelligent. If you saw the first chance where he played the ball to Sibiya, that was a very difficult pass and that could have easily created a goal in the early stages of the game."

The Arrows coach also highlighted Ndwandwe's versatility by reflecting on how he's used him in the past few matches. Before scoring, Maart missed a penalty that would have put Chiefs ahead in the 12 minute.

"For me, he's an exceptionally gifted player and I've used him in different roles; against Sundowns I used him to take care of Ribeiro from the half space and he dealt with him very well, in the game against Polokwane, I used him on the side of Appollis and he dealt with him very well and even against Magesi, it was big loss for me not to have him,'' Mngqithi explained.

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