South Africa’s u-17 boys trounce Seychelles 11-0
Mabena hits a high five as Under-17s dazzle
By GARY LEMKE in Lilongwe
Having watched the end of the girls under-17 match while they were warming up, South Africa’s boys will have been looking to match the display of their Team SA squad mates at the Bingu National Stadium on Saturday.
The girls were relentless in banging 12 goals past Namibia, but the boys were as impressive as they trounced Seychelles 11-0 immediately afterwards. A total of 23 goals without conceding must be some sort of record for a country on the same day.
Siyabonga Mabena helped himself to five of Team SA’s 11 goals in this Region V Games encounter, which also counts as a qualifier for the Under-17 African Championship in Algeria. Mabena, wearing No20 and who is a product of the School Of Excellence, was a unanimous call for Player of the Match. The 15-year-old was electrifying on the ball and some of his goals wouldn’t be out of place on any highlights reel from these Games.
He oozes confidence and class and could well have had two match balls and a double hat-trick had he taken the penalty awarded to South Africa in the 93rd minute with the scoreline 10-0. Instead, captain Benjamin Wallis stepped up and coolly slotted home for his own hat-trick in what was virtually the last kick of the game.
When questioned as to the decision-making process of who would take the penalty, and with Mabena already on five goals, coach Duncan Crowie said: “Siya would have taken the penalty as he’s the regular taken but he was pulling and we didn’t want to risk anything, So Benjamin, who also takes penalties, was given the chance.”
Mabena had opened the scoring in the 5th minute and a calm side foot finish in the 9th minute sent him scurrying to the corner flag to celebrate with his teammates. He then supplied the killer pass that allowed Dhakier Lee to make it 3-0 in only the 11th minute.
In the 25th minute a dazzling run by Xavier Jodamus resulted in Bennet Mokoena making it 4-0, and a minute later Mabena bagged his hat-trick. For good measure he slotted in first half added time to make it 6-0.
“At half-time I told them that no performance is perfect and even though we were 6-0 up, I said that we had to look to improve in the second half. To make even fewer mistakes and be even more clinical. I’m not convinced we were in the second half, and I rated that first half a seven or eight out of 10,” coach Crowie said.
“I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. This is only the first match of the tournament and it’s not about how you start, but how you finish. A lot of the players were having their first international, so I told them to go out there and enjoy themselves. I’m obviously happy with the performance and the result, but we can work on a few things from here.”
It was in the second half that Wallis, the central defender playing out of SuperSport United, collected his own hattrick. He netted in the 48th minute from a corner and again in the 53rd and 93rd minutes. The other goals were scored by Keitumetse Lesia (57th min) and Mabena (75th min).
Ultimately, while it was a team effort, whenever someone scores five goals the talk is all about them. And no-one would deny Siya Mabena having his moment.
Mabena hits a high five as Under-17s dazzle
By GARY LEMKE in Lilongwe
Having watched the end of the girls under-17 match while they were warming up, South Africa’s boys will have been looking to match the display of their Team SA squad mates at the Bingu National Stadium on Saturday.
The girls were relentless in banging 12 goals past Namibia, but the boys were as impressive as they trounced Seychelles 11-0 immediately afterwards. A total of 23 goals without conceding must be some sort of record for a country on the same day.
Siyabonga Mabena helped himself to five of Team SA’s 11 goals in this Region V Games encounter, which also counts as a qualifier for the Under-17 African Championship in Algeria. Mabena, wearing No20 and who is a product of the School Of Excellence, was a unanimous call for Player of the Match. The 15-year-old was electrifying on the ball and some of his goals wouldn’t be out of place on any highlights reel from these Games.
He oozes confidence and class and could well have had two match balls and a double hat-trick had he taken the penalty awarded to South Africa in the 93rd minute with the scoreline 10-0. Instead, captain Benjamin Wallis stepped up and coolly slotted home for his own hat-trick in what was virtually the last kick of the game.
When questioned as to the decision-making process of who would take the penalty, and with Mabena already on five goals, coach Duncan Crowie said: “Siya would have taken the penalty as he’s the regular taken but he was pulling and we didn’t want to risk anything, So Benjamin, who also takes penalties, was given the chance.”
Mabena had opened the scoring in the 5th minute and a calm side foot finish in the 9th minute sent him scurrying to the corner flag to celebrate with his teammates. He then supplied the killer pass that allowed Dhakier Lee to make it 3-0 in only the 11th minute.
In the 25th minute a dazzling run by Xavier Jodamus resulted in Bennet Mokoena making it 4-0, and a minute later Mabena bagged his hat-trick. For good measure he slotted in first half added time to make it 6-0.
“At half-time I told them that no performance is perfect and even though we were 6-0 up, I said that we had to look to improve in the second half. To make even fewer mistakes and be even more clinical. I’m not convinced we were in the second half, and I rated that first half a seven or eight out of 10,” coach Crowie said.
“I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. This is only the first match of the tournament and it’s not about how you start, but how you finish. A lot of the players were having their first international, so I told them to go out there and enjoy themselves. I’m obviously happy with the performance and the result, but we can work on a few things from here.”
It was in the second half that Wallis, the central defender playing out of SuperSport United, collected his own hattrick. He netted in the 48th minute from a corner and again in the 53rd and 93rd minutes. The other goals were scored by Keitumetse Lesia (57th min) and Mabena (75th min).
Ultimately, while it was a team effort, whenever someone scores five goals the talk is all about them. And no-one would deny Siya Mabena having his moment.