{"id":39018,"date":"2026-07-07T17:33:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=39018"},"modified":"2026-07-07T17:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:33:44","slug":"bafana-bafana-player-receives-heros-welcome-in-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/bafana-bafana-player-receives-heros-welcome-in-bethlehem\/","title":{"rendered":"Bafana Bafana player receives hero\u2019s welcome in Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">Bafana Bafana\u00a0midfielder Teboho Mokoena received a hero\u2019s welcome in his hometown of Bohlokong in Bethlehem, Free State province.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-body-separator-line\" dir=\"ltr\" data-applydefaultfontstyles=\"true\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div>Supporters lined the streets as the community celebrated one of their own after his outstanding performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>The homecoming also served as an opportunity to inspire young people to pursue their sport dreams.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Residents gathered to celebrate Mokoena, whose journey from the dusty football grounds of Bethlehem to representing South Africa on the international stage has become a source of pride for the entire community.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Mokoena reflects on his exploits as a Bafana Bafana player.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cI feel privileged. I feel proud. I\u2019m excited to see, especially now, my community here to celebrate me and welcome me back home. It\u2019s such an awesome feeling. I never thought as a kid I would be here and experiencing such an atmosphere. I\u2019ve been to three places and I\u2019ve received so much love from the community of Bethlehem. I\u2019m so excited and I can only say thank you to everyone who\u2019s been there for me, giving me the support.\u201d<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37618,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-39018","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The homecoming also served as an opportunity to inspire young people to pursue their sport dreams.","published_date":"","news_description":"The homecoming also served as an opportunity to inspire young people to pursue their sport dreams.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39025,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39018\/revisions\/39025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}