Mthethomusha Primary School book their spot for a chance to go to France to compete in the Danone Nations Cup Word Final

 

Mthethomusha Primary School of Pietermaritzburg are the 2016 KwaZulu-Natal under-12 Danone Nations Cup soccer champions and they will be going to Boksburg on June 25^th  to compete in the national finals, for the right to represent the country at the World Finals in France later in the year.

They won the title at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Durban last weekend, beating Ophuzane Primary in the final game following a day of playoff matches between the province’s district champions.

Musa Memela, the team’s coach, said the KZN provincial final was fiercely contested. “The standard of football was high, but that was expected considering how many professional players have come from the province,” he said.

There were plenty of goals scored, which is unusual in these games which are just 20 minutes long.

In the end, Mthethomusha played a structured game, worked well within the space, passed and dribbled well and managed to score the goals required. Their skills were exceptional and they scored a total of 22 goals throughout the tournament. 

“We won all our games at circuit level,” Memela said, and managed to beat our nemesis, Mophela Primary in the regional finals. We lost to them at that level last year, which meant we didn’t make the provincial finals.”

Memela was part of the Maritzburg United FC development team between 2003 and 2009, and when he didn’t manage to break into the first team he gave up playing and decided to focus on youth development.

He started his own team for kids between 10 and 17 and three years ago he was approached by the school to assist them.

Ahead of the national finals Memela believes it’s important to stress that the players stick to the team’s mission. “During the provincial finals, particularly in the early games, the players all wanted to be in the spotlight and they forgot the team’s overall goals. I had to give them a stern talking-to before the semi-final and they came out playing like demons.”

Now, he will be arranging as many friendly games for the team as possible. He will also pit them against local soccer clubs where the level of football is high.  All the boys also play for his club side, so he has plenty of access to them and they will be training together there as well.

RESULTS

Dinuphuzo Primary 0 vs Sipheni Primary 1

Ithaka Primary 0 vs Sindawonye Primary (red/white) 1

Sinaye Primary 2 vs Delihlazo Primary 1

Kasturba Gandhi School 6 vs Dumile Primary 0

Sipheni Primary 0 vs Ophuzane Primary 5

Sindawonye Primary 0 vs Zandile Primary 3

Delihlazo Primary 0 vs Mthethomusha Primary 3

Dumile Primary 0 vs Inkunzi Primary 3

Ophuzane Primary 4 vs Dinuphuzo Primary 0

Zandile Primary 1 vs Ithaka Primary 2

Mthethomusha Primary 1 vs Sinaye Primary 0

Inkunzi Primary 1(2) vs Kasturba Gandhi School 1(1)

Semifina1 1- Ophuzane 2 vs Inkunzi Primary 0

Semi-final 2 - Mthethomusha Primary 3 vs Zandile Primary 0

Final - Ophuzane Primary 1 vs Mthethomusha Primary 3

 

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