Ahead of the innovative Carling Knockout All Star Match, Orlando Pirates legend Happy Jele has revealed the three players he is most looking forward to seeing in action.
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Having broken into the Buccaneers first team setup as a teenager himself, it is very little wonder that Jele is enthused to see three young players rubbing shoulders with their more experienced counterparts at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday 6 January.
Thanks to the ingenuity of the Carling Knockout Cup, no less than five DStv Diski Challenge players will line up alongside the likes of Itumeleng Khune and Edson Castillo amongst others.
Speaking exclusively to the Siya crew ahead of the game, 'Magents' as Jele is known, is upbeat about the fixture.
"Yeah. Obviously, there's a few players injured. When you're injured some of the things you can't predict in life, so obviously the fans were hoping that they will see all of the players that they've selected but because of time and the game on its own, other people got injured. And we can't blame that because it's a game of contact.
"I was looking more for the youngsters like Masibonge Ngidi, Mfundo Vilakazi, and Kagiso Nguni. These players are ready to raise the bar and say, hey, 'I'm ready to be part of the senior team,' because it's another opportunity for them to rise. You never know if they do well now, maybe this second round of the season, some of them are gonna see it. And also, for them to get experience from coach [Jose] Riveiro because he's a good coach and they are gonna get experience from the coach as well."
Jele, who knows all about featuring on the big stage has encouraged the players to see the exhibition match as an opportunity to stake a claim in their respective senior teams.
"It's nice because there's the likes of Rama Mphahlele in the team, they've been in the situation before, and they are gonna advise those boys. But they must not play the occasion. They must just enjoy themselves, work hard, impress by all means because they will never know who's watching in this game. So just go out there and enjoy themselves and there's no pressure, they must enjoy football and work hard as the game goes on.
In addition to the football spectacle, fans will also be treated to a musical festival on game day, which features Makhadzi, King Monada, legendary kwaito artist Thebe and Skeem Saam actor Clement Maosa "Kwaito", who is also a dancer and musician.View the full All Star team as per the latest team changes today.
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