Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz challenges Wandile Duba to push for Bafana recognition

The 22-year-old striker came up through the reserves at Amakhosi in 2023 and has gone on make 67 appearances, scoring 15 goals and providing five assists.

He has struggled to cement his place as a starter over the past four campaigns, netting just three goals, and addnig two assists in 21 games in all competitions last term.

This season though, he has already found the target six times in seven apperances, including three Betway Premiership goals and three in the Carling Knockout Cup on Tuesday night.

Man of the match Duba scored all three goals as Chiefs eliminated TS Galaxy from the round of 16.

"I am very happy for Duba, he is a young player, sometimes he has a lot of ups and downs," said Da Cruz after the game, in the Citizen.

"He must improve his consistency., he is a young player and a good player who is able to drop deep and to make runs. He is very good in front of goal.

"But he must continue to work hard and listen to the coach and maybe if he continues to work hard he can become a player for Bafana."

"I am very happy for the players, they played four days before and expended a lot of energy. They deserved to win," added Da Cruz as he reflected on the game.

"Step by step we started to control the game (against Galaxy). We had three or four big chances in the first half but were not good in our decision making and technical quality.

“I asked them at half time to be more calm inside the box to score. We scored the goals in the second half and maybe we could have won 4-0 or 5-0. But the most important thing today was qualification for the next round," he added.