United Stars continues its ride on the crest of a wave
United Stars president cum-coach Sakhile Zulu is now basking in the glory of having kept his senior team (U19) intact as a unit since U13.
The mean machine that is United Stars is not resting on its laurels as the team continues to maintain its unbeaten run in the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association’s Promotional League.
The River Park-based outfit beat their fellow top 5 league honours aspirants Laz FC 3–0 on March 3 at the Alexandra Stadium.
This win retains Stars’ status at the summit of the league it has occupied since the start of the season while at the same time maintaining its unbeaten record with only two games to go before the start of the second round.
Stars are looking set to shatter the history records of the LFA league as the team with the longest unbeaten run ever. The club’s president cum-coach Sakhile Zulu attributes all this to the very fact that his boys have been together as a team since age 13 and that they know each other like the back of their hands.
“They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and how and when to make that timely pass to whoever for maximum exploitation to the benefit of the collective. They know who is athletically fast to receive a ball from a distance, who needs a ball closer and who has more trickery to deceive an opponent.
“These are things they learn and master over time together… I promoted them to the senior team as U17s and they gel so well,” Zulu told Alex News in an interview.
We wanted to know about his secret recipe behind the success of the boys. “When I promoted them straight from U17 to senior team two seasons ago, in the first season in the promotional league they finished outside the Top 8 bracket and last season they played Top 8 matches, and I knew now they were primed for big league football and hence their performance now.”
Zulu said the secret of their success is trusting the process, which involves being together for a long time and their commitment to that process coupled with hard work and discipline.
Their last matches of the first round will be against Gauteng FC on the weekend of March 9/10, and Amaskills FC on the weekend of March 16/17.
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