Snl24 | Khanye: A Special Mention To Vilakazi
Mfundo Vilakazi of Kaizer Chiefs during the Betway Premiership 2024/25 match between Marumo Gallants and Kaizer Chiefs at the Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein on 14 September 2024
From being criticised the last time he played in Bloemfontein, Kaizer Chiefsâ Mfundo Vilakazi redeemed himself in a special way to earn praises on the weekend as Amakhosi got their 2024/25 Premiership campaign underway with a victory. Â
With the score 1-1 at half-time, Vilakazi was introduced in the 60th minute and with under 20 minutes on the field he was on the score sheet to give the Soweto giants the much-needed win against Marumo Gallants at the Toyota Stadium on Saturday to the delight of the supporters.Â
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Against Tanzanian club Young Africans in the pre-season Toyota Cup in July, Vilakazi came under strong criticism for showboating during Chiefsâ 4-0 defeat.Â
This time around, the 18-year-old left the City of Roses an instant hero and with his confidence high after he earned the team the much-needed three points, and former midfielder Junior Khanye is impressed. Â Â Â Â Â Â
âI am one of the people who criticised him. But I have never ever doubted the boyâs talent. Heâs got natural talent. It canât be easy for someone his age to be able to face and dribble past experienced players in the topflight like he has been doing and weâve got to give him credit for that. It takes guts and a strong character for a player to do what the boy has been able to do at this level,â said Khanye, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew. Â
âThe boy was born with the talent and that isnât difficult to see. But, for me, he was wrongly developed. He joined Chiefsâ first team seeing himself as a dribbling wizard, and thatâs why I am saying something was lacking in his development. We also did those things, wiping the face with the jersey and standing for minutes in one place with the ball and all those things, but we were told by Farouk Khan that dribbling is still possible with one touch football and without wasting time and delaying play. But I must say, credit to whoever has been calling the boy up for the junior national teams, because playing in those games has also helped him to further develop,â he said.
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âCredit to coach Nabi for the way he played the boy on the weekend, introducing him in the second half and playing him to his strengths on the side with the expectation that he should cut inside and take shots. His goal was well taken, and it reminded me of (Lamine) Yamal, cutting inside skilfully and curling the ball. A special mention to Vilakazi himself for playing basic football when he came on and with the focus on creating and scoring goals. He was getting himself into dangerous positions and he had confidence in taking the shots. That wasnât just a simple goal, that was a winning goal which even some of the senior players might have struggled to take it that well.
“What the boy did was from coaching, you can tell it was an instruction from the coach who told him what he wanted to be done when he came on. Before Saturdayâs game, I had a problem with how the boy was playing because he wasnât hurting the opponents. With the talent he has and skill, he should have been hurting the opponents regularly. But Iâm sure that goal will help him to fast-track his progress because it will serve as a motivation for him to want more. Iâm sure he can also see now that the way he played is how he should have been playing all along,â concluded Khanye.
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