WISE CHOICE

Daylon Claasen’s former junior national team coach Serame Letsoaka, who was in charge of the team that went to the 2009 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Egypt, still holds him in high esteem, and believes the midfielder is in the perfect environment to grow and rea

“If you are a teacher, you’ll always have some students at the top of your class – Daylon was one player at the top at that time [in 2009],” Letsoaka says. “I don’t think his choice of country [the Netherlands] really suited his style of play and his way of doing things. Now that he is back in the country, I think we are going to see the best of Daylon. He is a very intelligent footballer, he reads the game very well and I think he is going to be a very big factor at Bidvest Wits,” says Letsoaka. The former Free State Stars, Bloemfontein Celtic and Golden Arrows coach holds fond memories of the quality Claasen possessed, and feels he could have made a greater impact in Europe had he played in a stronger league. “If you talk about Thulani Serero, Kamo Mokotjo and Kermit Erasmus, they were more or less in the same class with Daylon,” he says. “Like I say, he was one of the top five players in that team of 2009, in my opinion as a coach. I felt he could have made a bigger impact had he played in a league that really suited his style of play, but we never really got to follow him. He was playing for 1860 Munich and we never got to see him, but I can only say we are going to see the best of Daylon in South Africa.” Letsoaka is confident that the 27-year-old’s decision to return home, after an eight-year spell abroad, will pay dividends after already earning a recall to the Bafana Bafana side recently. “His game will grow in leaps and bounds,” he says. “He’s also in a very good setup at Bidvest Wits, and that will also help him to grow much more. I’m not disappointed that he’s back. What is the point of going overseas when you’re sitting on the bench? It’s then best to come home and play regularly. For a long time Daylon was not called to the national team, but he’s back home and got the nod to be in the national team after playing just a few games.”