Kaizer Chiefs have beaten Man United to the services of Emile Witbooi (Ralani’s son)
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Witbooi, who is just 15 years old and the son of Mamelodi Sundowns’ flying winger, Bradley “Surprise” Ralani, has been described as a “special” attacking player who needs special attention.
“He, like most South African kids that are talented, is very skilful and creative,” Dlangalala continued.
“He and many other players like him – and they are many – we need to give them special treatment.
“We need to accept that some players are very special and different. Players like your Neymar, Messi and Ronaldinho will not be where they are if they were not given special treatment,” he added
During the U16 tournament in Poland, SA played and lost to the hosts, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.
Witbooi is just the latest find from the School of Excellence, an institution that has been producing talented football players for close to three decades, including the likes of former Bafana Bafana captain Steven Pienaar, Bernard Parker, Keagan Dolly and Aubrey Modiba.
Zipho Dlangalala, coach of the South African national U16 team, is not surprised that English giants Manchester United have shown interest in Emile Witbooi, a teen sensation from the School of Excellence.
According to SABC Sport, the Red Devils are one of the teams that enquired about Witbooi just a few weeks after he was part of the SA U16 team that participated in the UEFA development tournament in Poland.
United are renowned for their academy and honing the talents of many former and current players such as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.
Dlangalala says Witbooi was one of four players who earned rave reviews from the UEFA technical assessors after the tournament.
“When the UEFA observers mentioned four players that stood out, there’s no secret about it. It was Witbooi Emile, Kabelo Sibande, who plays for Clapham now, and Lazola Maku, who’s at Ubuntu. These are the players who showed up in that event, and also Bohloko Neo, who is at Kaizer Chiefs,” he said.
