{"id":26075,"date":"2025-08-29T13:44:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T11:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=26075"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:56:23","slug":"mduduzi-shabalala-hungry-for-more-goals-after-bafana-bafana-call-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/mduduzi-shabalala-hungry-for-more-goals-after-bafana-bafana-call-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Mduduzi Shabalala hungry for more goals after Bafana Bafana call-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Kaizer Chiefs attacker Mduduzi Shabalala has received the Bafana Bafana senior national team call-up for the first time since turning professional in 2022. The 21-year-old helped South Africa finish runners-up in this year\u2019s COSAFA Cup and now wants to raise his game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shabalala admits his numbers need work. Since his debut three years ago, he has scored eight goals and provided five assists in 81 matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cAs an attacking midfielder, as a striker, you\u2019re only going to score, you\u2019re only going to create chances and have assists. So numbers are very important in the game for any player. For me I\u2019m working on that and I\u2019m also working on getting more goals and more assists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chiefs-attacking-responsibility\">Chiefs\u2019 attacking responsibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The youngster has often led a struggling Kaizer Chiefs attack. With the club determined to improve on last season, Shabalala says the squad has set clear internal targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe have to be better than last season in every aspect. We set goals inside the team and even the way we started was one of our goals. We are happy we managed to get nine points and we are looking forward to the upcoming games,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Chiefs have shown promise in the opening matches of the <strong>2025\/26 Betway Premiership season<\/strong>, and fans at <strong>Naturena Village<\/strong> hope consistency finally returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-3955743213\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-competition-within-the-squad\">Competition within the squad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The arrival of <strong>Luke Baartman<\/strong> and <strong>Asanele Velebhayi<\/strong> from Cape Town Spurs has strengthened Chiefs\u2019 frontline. Rather than feel threatened, Shabalala welcomes the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cLuke is a good player, a strong signing for us. He\u2019s going to help us a lot. He needs to focus on himself. He must always be himself at training and on the field. He must play with his heart so people can see it. He must not listen to everyone. He must do his thing and close the noise outside,\u201d Shabalala said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-this-means-for-bafana-bafana-and-chiefs\">What this means for Bafana Bafana and Chiefs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Shabalala\u2019s national team inclusion marks a big step in his career. For <strong>Hugo Broos<\/strong>, it is a chance to test a young attacker with creativity and hunger. For Chiefs, it proves their youth pipeline still delivers talent for both domestic and international football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Shabalala improves his finishing, he could become a regular for both <strong>Kaizer Chiefs<\/strong> and <strong>Bafana Bafana<\/strong>, two sides desperate for attacking spark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Check also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/bafana-bafana-squad-named-for-world-cup-qualifiers\/\">Bafana Bafana Squad Named for World Cup Qualifiers Against Lesotho and Nigeria<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mduduzi Shabalala\u2019s Bafana Bafana call-up rewards his perseverance, but he knows numbers matter. Chiefs and national team fans will watch closely to see if he converts potential into consistent goals and assists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Do you think Shabalala will become a regular starter for Bafana Bafana? Share your thoughts below.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kaizer Chiefs attacker Mduduzi Shabalala has earned a Bafana Bafana call-up and says improving his goal numbers is now the main focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Kaizer Chiefs attacker Mduduzi Shabalala has earned a Bafana Bafana call-up and says improving his goal numbers is now the main focus.","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,56,64],"tags":[286,275,288],"class_list":{"0":"post-26075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"category-sports","9":"category-sports-news","10":"tag-bafana-bafana","11":"tag-kaizer-chiefs","12":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26077,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26075\/revisions\/26077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}