Make your picks for the final time
It’s time for Phakaaathi’s final Player-of-the-Month competition for the 2016/17 season, with our judges choosing four nominations from some excellent performances in the Premier Soccer League in May. Read the competition rules below and choose your best player from these four and you could win R350 in airtime. Look out, too, for Phakaaathi’s Player-ofthe-Season competition in the July 4 edition.
Golden Arrows goalkeeper Nkosingiphile Gumede might have conceded five goals in the team’s last four league matches, but the 23-year old goalkeeper still played a huge role in helping Clinton Larsen’s men finish the season in the top eight with some brilliant performances. The shot-stopper managed to help the team get valuable points in tough matches against Kaizer Chiefs, Baroka FC and Orlando Pirates. It was in the last league game of the season against Pirates where the young keeper’s prowess really came to the fore as he made brilliant saves to ensure Arrows won and qualified for the top eight. His contribution this season even saw him named by Phakaaathi writer Sibongiseni Gumbi as his young Player-of-the-Season. KEYWORD: GUMEDE
Polokwane City striker Rodney Ramagalela seems to be settling in well in Limpopo after playing for three different teams in as many seasons. The strong forward, who packs power in his right foot, has managed to put the ball in the back of the net nine times this season in the Absa Premiership and has been a standout performer for Rise and Shine while getting into good scoring positions as well as troubling opposition defenders with his physique which helped him muscle players off the ball, making him an imposing figure on the field. In May Ramagalela didn’t score for his club but was still a key contributor as City beat both Kaizer Chiefs and Cape Town City, going on to finish an impressive sixth in the table. KEYWORD: RAMAGALELA
Mamelodi Sundowns’ Yannick Zakri has been the man Pitso Mosimane has been relying on up front in his tired squad in the absence of Khama Billiat and Anthony Laffor. The Ivorian endured a lengthy dry spell in front of goal in his early days at the club, but he found his rhythm and has not looked back, producing the goods in May. The 26-year-old started six of seven games in May and found the net five times. His best performance this past month is when he came off the bench to rescue a point against Maritzburg United, scoring twice in as many minutes at the death. Zakri also produced a brilliant performance away to Congolese side AS Vita in the Caf Champions League, netting the Brazilians second goal to give Downs a 3-1 victory. KEYWORD: ZAKRI
The Wits leftback is an unsung hero at times, though his efforts have now been rewarded with a return to the Bafana Bafana squad for this weekend’s clash in Nigeria. For the Clever Boys, Hlanti was as solid as a rock at the back again in May, marauding up and down the left-hand side of the pitch as Wits kept four clean sheets, picking up key 1-0 wins over Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates and Maritzburg United, before sealing the title with a 2-0 win against Polokwane City. It has been quite a meteoric rise for a player who joined Wits on loan from AmaZulu in January 2016 and impressed coach Gavin Hunt enough in half a season to sign permanently for the Clever Boys at the beginning of the campaign. KEYWORD: HLANTI