Why Thembinkosi Lorch’s brilliance at Wydad still can’t save his Bafana Bafana dream

Karma might be real after all. And that’s why you have to feel for Thembinkosi Lorch, as his improper conduct on and off the field seems to have caught up with him.

Lorch is playing some of his best football in a long while. And while he was hoping for the grandest honour a footballer can get - a chance to represent his country at major tournaments - the only recognition he’ll get now is the loud cheers and applause from the Wydad Casablanca passionate ultras.

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is not endorsing the return of the attacker to the national team - not now or in the near future. In fact, Lorch must forget about having an international career as long as Broos is still in charge.

Broos doesn’t see him as part of his plans. At 32 years old, Lorch is not the future, and he doesn’t offer enough to convince the Belgian to change his mind about an “overage” player — unlike what he did with the mighty Themba Zwane a few years ago.

And boy, that must sting. Broos made his stance clear just weeks before Bafana were set to compete at AFCON - ironically, in Morocco, where Lorch is based - next month, and ahead of the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America next year.

However, Lorch probably has himself to blame. Broos handed him a few call-ups during the early days of his Bafana career after he impressed at Orlando Pirates. But after falling down the pecking order at his next club, Mamelodi Sundowns, due to injury, loss of form, and partying, Lorch’s international career dimmed.

It grew even darker during his first stint at Wydad last season, as he struggled for form, and the coach who had brought him to the club was sacked before the end of the campaign — which didn’t help his cause either.

He may have since found his mojo - by being one of Wydad’s standout performers at the Club World Cup and arguably their best player this season, scoring four goals in eight appearances across all competitions - but Lorch’s past might have come back to haunt him.

He left Pirates under a dark cloud after being found guilty and handed a suspended sentence for assaulting his then-girlfriend with intent to cause bodily harm.

The wholly suspended sentence, owing to him paying certain fees, meant he avoided jail time — but he still carries a criminal record, which has made him unlawfully unfit to possess a firearm.

When that sentence was handed down, it seemed little more than a slap on the wrist, as Pirates claimed they had placed him on a “specialised program” — effectively giving him a get-out-of-jail-free card.

To add to that, the sanction didn’t affect him financially either. Pirates allowed him to continue playing amid the controversy, and courtesy of votes from the fans he even won the Carling Knockout Player of the Match award - worth R100,000 - which matched his penalty fee exactly.

So, since then, it was only a matter of time before Lorch realised his actions would come back to haunt him. And that time might have finally come.

Granted, many people are impressed with Lorch’s form at Wydad and believe he could have made a meaningful contribution to the national team in familiar surroundings.

After all, it was also in North Africa - Egypt, to be exact - where he earned the moniker “Moses” after starting in the AFCON last 16 and scoring the decisive goal that helped Bafana reach the quarter-finals.

But when all is said and done, we have to respect Broos and his decision. He believes he has enough depth - without Lorch - for Bafana to challenge at AFCON and make a strong statement in their return to the global stage next year after a 16-year absence.

So, yes, you have to feel for Lorch. Just when he thought he had put his flaws behind him, and that everyone - including Broos - was seeing him through a new lens, it seems the universe is still holding onto his past and settling old scores