The Copa Coca-Cola soccer tournament is now well underway with six Regions hosting games this past weekend, 19 February 2011. Hillview High School hosted the Tshwane West finals with winners, Central High school, boosted by the inclusion of Sundowns FC development players who are students at the school, booking a berth in the Gauteng Provincial Finals scheduled for KwaThema Sports Stadium on Saturday, 5th March, kick-off at 9am.
Central High School was unbeatable and also took home the individual awards: Top Goal Scorer and Best Player, as a result of striker, Khanyelihle Shozi scoring six goals in total.
Ten schools participated in the tournament which was divided into two pools and played on a knockout basis. Central’s’ first game against Winterveld High School resulted in a 10 – 0 drubbing. Central then went on to beat host, Hillview, 3 – 0 to book their place in the final against Rantailane High School, which they won 10 – 0.
Shozi could not contain his excitement on his team’s success: “We came to the finals with the aim of winning and proceeding to the next stage of Copa Coca-Cola. Our coach, Chaya Peter, inspired us to have fun and believe in ourselves. He told us before the tournament that we could win by 10 goals, which we did - twice. It was awesome.”
The young player, who started his career at Mabhuti Khanyeza’s club, Rockers FC in 2002 and was recruited into the Sundowns development programme in June 2010.
“The Copa Coca-Cola competition is a great stepping stone for us as young players,” said Shozi. “It is not just one weekend of games, but we play for months, which gives us the opportunity to polish our skills. My favourite player is Christiano Ronaldo, and I aspire to play for Real Madrid one day.”
Coach Chaya Peter was also pleased with his team’s result: “This was a great start to a magnificent tournament. Copa Coca-Cola is definitely an inspiring initiative especially following the Minister of Sports and Recreation’s call for all South Africans to rally around school football. Copa Coca-Cola gives all schools something exciting to look forward to. It is an established tournament and teachers and coaches know that it is for the under 18 ages so we can start building our squads early. In our case, we started training last year already.”
“Coca-Cola is proud to play a part in developing young talent,” said Anthony Garstang, Brand Experience Manager, Coca-Cola South Africa. “The tournament is well underway now and as a brand, we are obviously looking to build talent for the future, recognising the important part the fans play in building the sport. We have decided to give a free 300ml Coke to everyone who comes to watch games. There also will be a DJ at the games throughout the day. We want the community in all the regions to come and see the future football stars in action.”
RESULTS:
Group A
Kgadime Matsepe 1(4p) vs Pelotona 1(2p)
Winterveld 0 vs Central High School 10
Mabopane High School 0 vs Setlalentoa 2
Group B
Hillview 4 vs Suiderberg 2
Holy Trinity 0 vs Rantailane 3
Second Round
Kgadime Matsepe 1 vs Rantailane 4
Semi Finals
Setlalentoa 0 vs Rantailane: 2
Hillview 0 vs Central High School 3
Finals
Central High School 10 vs Rantailane 0
GOAL SCORERS:
TOTAL NUMBER OF GOALS SCORED: 45
Khanyelihle Shozi (Central) 6
Jeremiah Nkwana (Central) 3
Refilwe Mokeretla (Central) 3
Mxolisi Sibanyoni (Central) 3
Siphiwe Khomo (Kgadime) 2
Seun Ledwaba (Central) 2
Roscoe Mckenzie (Central) 2
Sfiso Sithole (Rantailane) 2
Tlotlo Lekobu (Rantailane) 2
Katlego Namo (Rantailane) 1
Tatedi Magongoa (Rantailane) 1
Botshelo Mfuluane (Rantailane) 1
David Masupha (Rantailane) 1
Moshe Motau (Rantailane) 1
Godfrey Moatshe (Pelotona) 1
Ishmael Mngonyama (Central) 1
Siyabonga Khuzwayo (Central) 1
Percy Tau (Central) 1
Karabo Litabe (Central) 1
Yellow cards and Red cards: 0
Media Enquiries:
Tulisiwe Mkatshwa
Brand PR and Communications Manager
Coca-Cola South Africa
0823771207
On behalf of Coca-Cola
Intune Communications
Pearl Ndlazi
0832321389
The Coca-Cola Company
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