Bree Primary School, who will be representing
South Africa in the Danone Nations Cup world finals in Morocco in October, will
be taking with them a gifted Goalkeeper, Mncedisi Nguse. According to
Mamelodi Sundowns scout, Mandla Mazibuko this youngster will make a positive
contribution to the team.
“Overall the team has pretty good
players, but Mncedisi is one special keeper. He has pure natural talent
and with great coaching and having him in a good development structure I can
see him playing for the national team one day,” said Mazibuko, who attended all
the provincial finals as well as the national finals of the tournament.
Mncedisi comes from a family of great
footballers. “My older brother Njabulo Nguse, who is also a goalkeeper
like me, is part of the Orlando Pirates development academy,” said a proud
Mncedisi.
The youngster’s football career started in
the streets of Soweto. It was while he was playing informally with his
friends that he was approached by Nkosinathi Motlale, coach of Protea Glen FC
who recruited him into the team.
Then at the beginning of the year, at a
friendly game between Protea Glen Stars and Mavi Stars, the Bree Primary coach,
Bafana Dlamini invited the youngster to join the school.
“They spoke to my grandmother Lindiwe Nguse,
who is my guardian, and they told her how good a goalkeeper I am and that Bree
Primary School would like to offer me a full scholarship,” Mncedisi said. “My
grandmother knows how much I love soccer and how important it is to me, so she
immediately agreed to allow me to change schools and attend Bree.”
He started at Bree in February and adjusted
easily. “Bree is a very good school and since I started there my grades have
improved a lot. I have made friends. Every one now knows me at the school
especially now that we won the Danone Nations Cup. My team mates and I have
become very popular at the school.
Bree Principal, Mr Kalicharan, introduced
Mncedisi to the Danone Nations Cup. “We all know that the team won in
2009 and we decided we would go all out to try and do the same this year.
The provincial finals were a great experience, but the nationals took the cake.
It was my first time playing against schools from other provinces and I had a
great time meeting all of them. Before the final game against Nelson Mandela
Primary Mr Kalicharan had a talk with me and prepared me mentally. He
used to be a goalkeeper and he knows the pressures that goalkeepers face during
the game.”
When he learned that he will be going to
Morocco the first people Mncedisi told were his grandmother and brother. “My
gran is the most excited and also scared for me because she is scared of
aeroplanes and flying. My brother, on the other hand, wishes it was him going
to Morocco because he has never travelled internationally before.”
The team is hard at work preparing for the
world finals and Mncedisi is getting special attention from Mr Kalicharan. “He
has been telling me how different it is at international level. He told me that
we will play against players that are very tall and that can aim very well, I
need to maintain my cool and keep my eye on the ball at all times,” he said.
“He also stressed the importance of communication, it is very important for a
goalkeeper to communicate with your team at all times.
At home the youngster is also getting help
from his brother. “It helps that he is a goalkeeper as well so we get to
share ideas and he teaches me a lot about catching high balls and low balls and
how to distribute the ball.”
Bree, as former winners of the world title,
know how important it is to represent the country well in Morocco, Mncedisi
said. “I tell my team mates that we should be proud of ourselves for achieving
what we have achieved. The big step now is the world finals, because Bree won
in 2009 we are under a lot of pressure to win this year but we should not let
that get to us.”
Mncedisi is adamant that professional soccer
lies in his future. “I see myself being a part of development academy and going
on to play professionally,” he said. “But I also want to study and become a
lawyer, I love working with people and I enjoy helping people out with their
problems.”
About Danone
Danone
Southern Africa is part of the Danone Group, one of the fastest-growing food
companies in the world. Danone is present in over 120 countries across
all continents. With 160 plants and around 100,000 employees, the Danone Group
is the number one worldwide for Fresh Dairy Products. Danone’s mission is to
bring health through food to as many people as possible.
One of the core values of the Danone Nations Cup
tournament is to encourage young people to believe in their dreams. Through
this initiative Danone offers a sporting event that reaches out to and inspires
millions of children all over the world
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