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Cape Town - South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba feels Thulani Serero was not at his best against Angola on Tuesday, despite picking up the Man of the Match award.
Bafana Bafana ended a six-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the Sable Antelopes at the Cape Town Stadium on Youth Day, with Serero pulling the strings for the hosts to eventually collect the individual honour.
However, Mashaba, who left the Ajax Amsterdam winger out of Bafana's 2015 Africa Cup of Nations squad earlier this year, feels the player still has plenty more to offer the side.
"He [Serero] played very well, and that is why he won the Man of the Match, though he did not exert himself to the fullest," said the coach.
"If he's right on the day, he could kill a lot of people. You saw his touches, though he seemed a little bit scared, though he did very well.
"You need the influence of a player like that, especially when you get into the opposition's defending third."
Mashaba was equally critical of another overseas-based player, Ayanda Patosi, claiming the midfielder was nowhere near as effective against the Angolans as he was in the 2017 AFCON qualifier against Gambia last weekend.
"I think he [Patosi] has done well, but we have noted his level of fitness," Mashaba added.
"He did very well in the first game, but against Angola he was playing in stanzas: you'd see him, and then he'd be gone.
"Especially when we lost possession, you'll look for him, but you won't find him. So he did not seem to be fit as one would expect him to be."
