Mamelodi Sundowns coach believes that the recent performances of Orlando Pirates winger Thabo Qalinge should herald him a spot in the Bafana Bafana squad.

Qalinge has been Pirates’ go-to-guy for large parts of this season, and the Masandawana mentor is adamant that South Africa could benefit with Qalinge’s pace.

“I have never seen Qalinge and [Thembinkosi] Lorch so revived, it’s unbelievable,” he said in post-match comments.

“They are showing, especially Qalinge, that he deserves a chance also for Bafana Bafana because we need the speed. But his time will come also.”

Mosimane praised Pirates’ style of football, citing the influence of Milutin Sredojevic and assistant coach Rhulani Mokwena.

“If I look at the game of Arrows, they were expansive, they move,” he said, referring to the Buccaneers’ 1-0 win over Golden Arrows in the last-16 of the Telkom Knockout last weekend. Qalinge got the goal in a man-of-the-match display in KwaMashu.

“Maybe [not] the Derby [against Kaizer Chiefs] because the Derby is always a lovely draw,” he added of the goalless stalemate in October.

“But when they play Sundowns, when they play against Arrows, they are a little bit expansive. It’s a different type of Pirates, let’s give credit.

“You can see the game which was played, that is Champions League material. It’s at that kind of level that you can see why these teams have stars on the top of their badges, because they play football,’ he concluded.