Despite Amaglug-glug’s rather disappointing showing at the Olympic Games, Mothiba featuring at the sporting jamboree has left the local school filled with pride.
Football coach at the school, Thabo Tiki, predicted that Mothiba would represent the senior national team in the near future.
Owen Da Gama’s men were sent packing from Rio after failing to register a win in their three preliminary matches.
An impressive result which saw them hold hosts Brazil to a nil-nil draw having played the majority of the match with 10 men, was followed by a 1-0 loss to Denmark and another frustrating draw against minnows Iraq.
The 20-year-old forward made his debut for the SA u-23 team in a 4-0 beating of Tunisia in Tunis in September last year.
He plies his trade for French Ligue 1 outfit Lille where he signed a three-year professional contract in July.
The Thembisa-born striker initially joined Lille in 2014 from Diambars Academy, which closely worked with Sunward Park High, but played with the club’s reserve side.
He is still widely unknown by football fans in SA, largely due to Lille holding him back from junior national duty.
His debut in the beautiful game saw him feature for his father’s amateur team, Mighty Bucks. He’s also spent time with Mamelodi Sundowns’ youth system for two years from when he was just 11.
He then joined Kempton Park FC where he was spotted by then Boksburg-based Diambars Academy, a footballing school founded in Senegal by ex-France internationals Bernard Lama and Patrick Viera.
Mothiba was invited for trials by Lille in 2014 while still a student at Sunward Park High. He spent two months with Lille’s reserves and u-19s before being offered a contract.
Lille, which last won the Ligue 1 title in the 2010-2011 season, finished the 2015-2016 campaign in eighth position.
Amaglug-glug mentor Da Gama once said the following about Mothiba: “He has quality, he’s strong, quick and he is a No. 9.”
Watch this space. – @SabeloBoksburg
