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Bruce Chikuni in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
EX-SOUTH Africa and SuperSport United international Reneilwe “Yeye’’ Letsholonyane has revealed his admiration for Zimbabwean talent while also bemoaning the declining number of players from this country in the DStv Premiership.
Letsholonyane was among a number of former Bafana Bafana stars, including Mathew Booth, who watched matches at the ongoing Under-17 Vision View TV Easter Cup of Champions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The dreadlocked ex-midfielder, who also starred for Kaizer Chiefs, said he had been charmed by Legends Academy’s players who are part of the youth football Easter fiesta.
Legends Academy’s road in this tournament ended after they lost 0-2 to SuperSport United in a make-or-break affair.
Before this fixture, Legends Academy had managed four points, a goalless draw against the hosts Transition, a 1-3 loss at the hands of RESA and a thumping 6-0 win over Rocking Stars.
Their 6-0 triumph is the biggest win in the tourney so far.
Legends Academy, an affiliate of English Premier League side, Everton, were the only Zimbabwean team at the invitational regional development tournament.
Letsholonyane feels Legends Academy did well to showcase some of the talent that is in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the COSAFA region with serious talent and I was expecting the performance, which I saw from Legends Academy.
“They did well to make people realise that there’s talent in Zimbabwe.
“I was thrilled with the way they played even though they lost against SuperSport United but you could see the hunger, fighting spirit and purpose,” said Letsholonyane.
He expressed concern over the continued decrease in the number of Zimbabwean players in the South African top-flight.
“What I also observed from Legends Academy is in terms of talent, the margins are not that wide as compared to what we have in South Africa; they are still learning and adapting to reach their full potential.
“But these tournaments will help to bridge that gap and expose these future stars to international football, which will make it easy to play for the national teams once they get their chance.
“I don’t know what is limiting Zimbabwean players to make the grade in South Africa as they used to do in the past.
“But what I know is having such tournaments will open doors for players to play even in Europe. All I know is once these competitions are played frequently, it’s going to be hard to ignore Zimbabwean talent.”
Legends Academy director Farai Dhliwayo said his young players needed such tournaments to get a broader perspective of how the game is developing.
He said it would also help the players to gauge their strengths and weaknesses away from familiar surroundings at home.
“This tournament was fantastic when considering that in Zimbabwe we hadn’t been beaten in the last six months but here we recorded two losses, a win and a draw.
“There is no way we were going to get this feeling without being here.
“I think it’s about figuring out what the levels are and it’s a developmental process. These boys are not yet finished products,” Dhliwayo said.
He said players were developing at different rates, some at a higher level and others at low speed.
“It can only be possible through exposure and once they start to have an idea of what players of their age are doing, that’s when they start to take their careers more seriously.
“One of the other key elements we discovered from this tournament is the difference in resources.
“The difference is too big because we are talking about clubs like SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns having like 15 to 18 members in their developmental technical setup.
“Such a difference is always going to come into play, but I was more than pleased with how the boys ignored our shortcomings to put up an unforgettable fighting spirit,” Dhliwayo added.
Legends were back in action yesterday when they faced teams that had been knocked out in a mini-tournament that ensured more game time for all the players on tour.
“Today we were able to play three friendly games against top academies from the region.
“A mini-international friendly tourney. Great exposure for the boys. Each team had a different style of play. All our players played in the matches,’’ said Dhliwayo.
Yesterday’s Results:
Legends 2-1 Athletic Club (Namibia); Legends 0-1 Magnet; (Tanzania); Legends 4-1 Dream Academy (Botswana)
Online Reporter