SOE hails Sundowns-bound Amajimbos star

The 15-year-old, who plays in the Gauteng Development League, has already been snapped up by DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundonws, and head of technical at the School of Excellence, Mojalefa Mathebula has hailed the teenager as a special talent.

"He's 15. There was a great debate, well something that I just said he must do, to say we are just wasting this boy's time at under-15, we need to push him to under-19,” revealed Mathebula.

“As a result, when we went to Engen [Knockout Challenge], he was called up to go with the under-18s. He scored a couple of goals and played, I think, almost all the games there, so he's just a marvel and that's why even the teams were fighting for him, because players like him are very hard to come by."

Mabena is a special young talent, comfortable on the ball, with a good quick pass, excellent dribbling ability, well-composed in the final third, and most importantly quality finishing.

"The attributes [he possesses] are ones that people are trying to extract from our players and say, 'No, they are disrespectful and it's not professional,' but this is us and it's our best weapon, and we are not trying to use it effectively," he added.

It comes as no surprise then that there was a tug-of-war between Sundowns and Orlando Pirates for the youngster's services – so much so that a deal involving another product from the School, Relebohile Ratomo, had to be considered.

"It was a problem. The back story is that Sundowns saw him and there was a little bit of a fight [laughs] – I'm not to go [into details]. We had their big bosses coming here and we had to intervene and say, ok, Relebohile [Ratomo] go to Pirates and Mabena go to Sundowns," Mathebula shared.

"Because the way these boys just came up was simply unbelievable - people saw them and they were taking their time and then, boom, after the Pirates Cup it was just a fight.

"But the boys are exceptional – both of them – and we're just hoping that with their new clubs, they will now be able to take them to the next level."

South Africa are already through to the COSAFA Cup semi-finals after thrashing Seychelles 11-0 and beating Mozambique by a single goal – scored by Mabena.

Amajimbos – coached by former Santos striker and former Ajax Cape Town youth coach Duncan Crowie – need only a draw against Zambia to top the group later today. 

The two finalists will qualify for the African U-17 Cup of Nations tournament in Algeria, which is scheduled for next year.