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Following 19-year-old Khanya Leshabela’s promotion to the Leicester City Under-23 team on a three-and-half-year contract last week, we look at some of South Africa’s young players flying the flag high in European leagues.
This month, attacking midfielder Tashreeq Matthews joined FC Utrecht on loan from Borussia Dortmund. The German club signed the 18-year-old when he came through the Ajax Cape Town youth development programme in July last year.
He started training with the German giants and signed his contract in November. He has already played in his club’s Uefa Youth League 4-0 loss to Atlético Madrid of Spain.
He is the third South African to play for Dortmund, after Delron Buckley and Steven Pienaar.
South African Under-20 coach Thabo Senong called him to camp in Nelspruit, where the team is preparing for the Afcon, which is set to begin in Niger next month.
Cape Town-born Nikolas Tavares was given the captain’s armband for the Crystal Palace Under-23 team on his debut last November. That team also featured a few first-team players.
“[Playing with first-team players] is really good because they understand their roles and they are disciplined, so it makes your job a lot easier. I’ve played the past few games as captain and I’m enjoying it,” he said on the team’s website.
He joined Palace in 2017 and his contract was extended last year. The player, who turned 20 on Thursday, previously represented the Croatia Under-20 team, but has met with Stuart Baxter for a possibility to join Bafana Bafana.
Former Orlando Pirates player Lyle Foster finally joined AS Monaco in the first week of this month. He had been on the radar of the French side for quite some time. The 18-year-old was eyed by the French Ligue 1 team and was assessed by its technical team late last year. Foster signed a four-and-half-year deal with Thiery Henry’s team.
Kobamelo Kodisang (19) joined third-tier Portuguese club AD Sanjoanense in September on a loan deal from Bidvest Wits. He is also part of the Amajita squad.
Another promising player is 19-year-old Siphesihle Mdlalose, who is at English Premier League side Southampton‚ where he turned out for the club’s Under-23 squad this season. The Durban-born player signed a professional contract with The Saints last year.
He joined the Southampton academy in 2015 and was promoted to the Under-18 team soon afterwards.
The esteemed KwaZulu-Natal Football Academy, under the guidance of Gugu Marawa, has produced a number of players who went on to feature in Europe.
They include Mdlalose, Thabo Cele and Sibusiso Shibane, among many others.
Cele captured the hearts of South Africans at the 2017 Under-20 World Cup in South Korea. He now plays for Cova Piedade in the Portuguese second-tier league.
Also in Portugal is Shibane, who joined the Vitória Setúbal Under-19 team in February last year.
Defender Nkanyiso Shinga (18) was signed after impressing the same Portuguese team’s scouts during the academy’s tour of Portugal last year.
He followed in the footsteps of Philani Jaca (18) and Sphephelo Sithole (19), who both signed for Setúbal. Jaca registered for the Under-19 team while Sithole joined the Under-23 squad.
Sithole moved to the Belenenses Under-23 team this week. Two years ago, he featured for Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon.
Marawa said the academy had talented players, but making it in Europe depends on how one is dedicated to making it work despite the many changes and challenges.
“It’s not about talent, but about how much they want to make it overseas,” she said.
“We have players who came back from Portugal because they couldn’t adapt to the weather conditions or the language barrier.”
The academy, which receives funding through Safa from the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust, toured Portugal from July 15 to 19 last year and most of the young players were spotted by European scouts.
The academy initially only had an Under-19 team, but now has grassroots teams from Under-11 right up to Under-19.
