AmaZulu midfielder Ethan Brooks has set his targets as the most experienced player in the Bafana Bafana squad ahead of the 2022 Cosafa Cup.
South Africa, led by Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele named a youthful 23-man squad for the tournament in Durban where they are looking to defend the title.
The likes of Austin Dube, Yusuf Maart and Brooks earned major career breakthroughs in the previous edition and Brooks, with nine international caps to his name now, arrives as the senior statemen among the latest crop of players.
Brooks, who joined Usuthu from TS Galaxy this month says they are aiming to have the same mentality this time around and retain their title under Midnight Express.
“It was a great experience for me, last year was great for me, guys who were older than me I got to learn a lot from them and the tournament itself,” he told SAFA media.
“Going into this one, I’ve got guys my age and it’s also going to be a great experience for them as well – learning a lot. We’re going to play against guys bigger, much older than us but it’s going to be a great experience for us as well.
“I think we had a winning mentality from day one when we walked in, everyone understood what we wanted to achieve; winning the tournament. I feel like that should be our mandate as well, wanting to defend the title.”
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The 20-year-old who’s yet to score a professional goal at the national team level or in the DStv Premiership admits that’s one of the things he’s looking to tick of his list of targets amid the widespread acclaim he’s received for his industrious displays since bursting onto the scene with the Rockets.
“Personally I’d like to score, that’s one achievement I’ve been wanting in the league, but something also I want to achieve in the [Cosafa] tournament,” he added before opening up on his Bafana breakthrough from the youth levels.
“It all comes down to how much I wanted it, you know when I did walk into the U-20s, I told myself I want to be in the [senior] national team set-up and I worked hard to get there and here I am now.”
