Mamelodi Sundowns left back Lyle Lakay insists he’ll continue to work hard to cement his place in the South African national team set-up as they prepare to face world champions France on Tuesday evening.
The 30-year-old made his first appearance for Bafana Bafana since 2020 when he came on as an 85th-minute substitute for Terrence Mashego during their goalless draw at the Guldensporen Station on Friday evening.
Lakay will now be hoping to make the starting lineup when they take on France in Lille as he relishes the chance to face off against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Antoine Griezmann.
“It’s always a great feeling to represent your country, it’s every footballer’s dream to represent their country and also it’s been a while since I’ve been in the national team, it’s good to be back. I always told myself that if I am [selected] I’ll be happy and even if I wasn’t selected, it’s also not the end of the world,” Lakay told his club’s official website.
“I just have to continue working hard and keep on trying to make the next squad whenever there’s qualifiers or friendly games.
“It’s a different squad compared to when I was last there, it’s Ronwen [Williams], Keagan [Dolly], I think it’s the two of them that were there in the previous camp when I was there. I’ve been with Ronwen at the SuperSport United Academy, we’ve played together before and, obviously, my teammates that will also be there – Rushine [De Reuck], [Khuliso] Mudau, Mothobi [Mvala], [Teboho Mokoena] Tebza and Thapelo [Morena] that are all there.”
Lakay, who is close to reaching his personal target for the season, expressed the desire to test his ability when they come up against the world’s best on Tuesday.
“For me, personally, it’s people that we get to watch in the European league and in the Champions league. [Kylian] Mbappe is one of the top players in the world right now, you’ve also got your [Karim] Benzema and [Antoine] Griezmann and the other guys as well but, for me, I take it as telling yourself that you get to test yourself against the best in the world,” he added.
“Obviously, their level is higher than ours but at the end of the day you get to test yourself against the best in the world, which is something that everybody wants to do, to see where you stand and to see how far you can go.
“I set a target for myself at the beginning of the season, right now I think I am on course to achieve that. I think the goals that I have set for myself, and also as a team, always motivate you and it also keeps you going. Last season I set myself a target of 15 goal contributions, and I ended up at 13. This year I am at 10, and we’ve just passed the halfway mark of the season, I’m almost on the target that I reached last year. All those things play a big factor and also motivates you to do even more.
“I think and I believe that if I continue to work the way that I am right now I can achieve the goal that I have set out for myself this season personally and, obviously, if I do that it will help the team to reach the goals that we’ve set as a team.”
