Barkerville Junior Secondary School from UMzimvudu in the
Eastern Cape will be going to the Danone Nations Cup national finals in a few
weeks’ time with the goal of winning the national title and having another
chance to prove themselves at the competition’s world finals in France later in
the year.
They get this chance after beating Ngubethole Bam Junior
Secondary School 2 – 1 in the Eastern Cape provincial finals that took
place last weekend.
They
went to the world finals in Spain in 2011 as the national champions and for
coach, Mpilo Changa, the experience he gained there has changed his approach to
coaching that he believes will stand them in good stead at the nationals.
“The
world finals taught me a lot, particularly in the scoring department,” he said.
“The team from Germany, specifically, taught their kids to score from anywhere.
In one game, one of their players received the ball on halfway, with his back
to the goal. He controlled the ball, turned and stuck it in the back of the
net. Those are the sorts of skills you need to succeed at that level.”
This
team may not have as many talented players as the one that went to Spain,
Changa said, but they are stronger physically, and they play as a team.
“They
pass the ball well and I want to see them sharing the ball and show composure
in front of the goals,” he said. “They can keep possession but at the same time
they must pass to players in the gaps so that they have the opportunity to
score.”
South
African football is about dribbling and attacking opponents, Changa says. “We
need to pass more and create opportunities.”
In
preparation for the national finals, the coach intends organising as many
friendly matches as he can. “We will be playing against local opposition in our
neighbouring towns. I am going to make them physically fitter but I also want
to work on the mental side of the game. I want my kids not to be afraid of the
opposition. They must learn to trust and believe in themselves.”
There
are two players that Changa is expecting big things of.
Bunathi
Khala is a gifted left-footed player, which makes him a natural left winger.
“He is good at cutting in from the wing and dribbling towards to the goal and
creates goal scoring opportunities.”
Sindisa Pheyana is a striker, with a powerful boot who is
very strong for his age. “In Sindisa I have a natural player who has the
ability to hold possession and turn with the ball. There are few players who
can do that. He needs to improve on his accuracy. There will be games where he
will not have many opportunities to score, so he needs to take advantage of any
chance he gets,” Changa said.
The
Danone Nations Cup world finals taught the players a lot, Changa says. “We
learnt about different cultures and we learnt about the importance of
communication. We watched how teams like Japan managed to meet and communicate
with the other teams even though they could not speak all that much English.
“We
also learnt that there other ways to play football and that players from other
countries are just as passionate about the game as we are.”
Having
gone to the world finals in Spain will definitely give the team an advantage
over the other teams in the national finals, Changa believes.
“We
have seen what it takes to get there and we know how good the overseas teams
are. We need to lift our game if we want to win the national finals and if we
want to do better in the world finals than we did the last time around.”
Results
Game 1: Debera JSS 0 vs. Gcinubuzwe CS 3
Game 2: Ben Nyati PS 0 (0) vs. Ngubethole Bam JSS 0 (2)
Game 3: Barkerville JSS 2 vs. Maruping PS 0
Game 4: Debera JSS 0 vs. Ben Nyati PS 3
Game 5: Gcinubuzwe CS 0 vs. Ngubethole Bam JSS 2
Game 6: Maruping PS 0 (1) vs. Guqaza JSS 0 (2)
Game 7: Ngubethole Bam JSS 1 vs. Debera JSS 0
Game 8: Ben Nyati PS 2 vs. Gcinubuzwe CS 0
Game 9: Guqaza JSS 0 vs. Barkerville JSS 1
Final Game: Ngubethole Bam JSS 1 vs. Barkerville JSS 2
Danone Partner:
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