ORLANDO PIRATES MAY HAVE ANOTHER JOMO SONO
By Nick Said
Orlando Pirates sprang a surprise last week by not only promoting 16-year-old midfielder Augustine Mahlonoko to their first team, but then handing the teenager a debut in their Absa Premiership opener, a 1-1 home draw with Highlands Park.
It is proof that coach Micho Sredojevic is happy to give opportunities to anybody he feels is good enough, irrespective of age or experience, and in a bloated squad packed with midfield options, he obviously sees something special in Mahlonoko.
He did the same last season when giving a debut appearance to 17-year-old striker Lyle Foster, who is shortly heading off for a second set of trials with French Ligue 1 giants Monaco ahead of an expected January move.
Mahlonoko shone on Pirates’ Project X tour to Brazil earlier this year when the best set of under-21 players at the club played against other talents from around the world. He was also named the Pirates academy Player of the Year. That saw him train with the first team in pre-season and it was there where he did enough to persuade Sredojevic that he is ready for the Absa Premiership. “I have learnt a lot since being with the first team during pre-season, but there’s a lot that I still need to learn and I welcome that because it can only make me a better player,” Mahlonoko said.
“Though I am happy to be promoted, I will not let this get to my head because in all honestly, this is only the beginning. Those above me have shown faith in me by getting me promoted, I now need to prove myself.”
The youngster rose to prominence when he was nominated for the club’s Goal of the Month award in March this year for a 35m rocket scored against Namibian side Black Africa Hopsol in the Future Champions Under-17 International Tournament which caused quite a stir on social media.
It is unlikely that Pirates fans have been this excited about a 16-year-old since the great Jomo Sono was strutting his stuff for the club at that age in the early 1970s.
And by throwing Mahlonoko into the game when Pirates were in desperate need of a goal in their 1-1 draw against Highlands Park, it was a massive show of faith by Sredojevic.
Expect to hear much more about this talented youngster this season, who could yet be an unlikely hero for The Buccaneers as they seek a first league title since 2012. “I think the strategy from the club is perfect. We cannot allow Gabriel to go out for another club because he is so young. His heart,
his courage, his fight to put in every effort for the team is incredible. I never met one striker who fights like he does for the team. He always wants to know what he can do better and that is fantastic.”