Limpopo youngsters did not come this far to play games
Budding players are eyeing the PSL
The rise of young football stars such as Percy Tau, Wiseman Meyiwa and Lyle Foster has made budding players to rethink their career goals.
While Tau, 23, is now a bona fide talent in the PSL, Meyiwa and Foster – who are both 17 – are in their debut season in top-flight football.
The buzz at the Copa CocaCola national finals has been about which of the 153 players participating will be the next big thing in local football.
Nine teams of provincial champions are competing at the finals taking place at the Mangaung Outdoor Sport Complex.
The games started yesterday and will end tomorrow.
Among the players are the duo of Lefa Malatji and Results Khwerana, both 15, from Benny’s Sports Academy in Louis Trichardt, Venda.
Of all the teams taking part, the group from the northern most province travelled the farthest to arrive in the City of Roses.
The pair, together with their 15 teammates, travelled 840km to compete against their peers.
Malatji from Giyani is a Kaizer Chiefs supporter, while Khwerana from Makhado is a Mamelodi Sundowns fan.
For thei r team, Malatji is the starting left-back while Khwerana is the main striker for coach Moses Muthelo.
“We left Limpopo at 2am just to get there, so we did not come all the way here to play ordinary or lose,” Malatji said.
Khwerana interjected: “It was a nine-hour trip for us, I don’t think anybody came as far as we did.”
With Meyiwa of Chiefs and Foster of Orlando Pirates only two years their senior, the two boys don’t see why they cannot do the same and turn professional in their teens.
“I watch the PSL religiously, it does not matter which teams are playing. Football means everything to me,” Malatji said.
“Looking at players like Wiseman [Meyiwa] he is basically my age but playing at a high level. I also believe I can be at that level.”
Their school drew their opening match 2-2 against Khayalami High School (Mpumalanga) and beat Bastiaanse Secondary School from the Western Cape.
‘ ‘ Football means everything to me