Mahlangu excited to be part of Copa Coca-Cola

Copa Coca-Cola, with a rich history of developing soccer heroes, kick-starts the provincial phase of the Copa Coca-Cola tournament where aspiring u-15 footballers will have an opportunity to compete against the best talent across the country. The 2018 programme will see 57 schools who advanced from the regional play-offs now gearing up for the even more challenging provincial play-offs set to kick-off in June.

Like previous years, victory at the provincial stage means each champion will represent its corresponding province at the national finals set to take place in Port Elizabeth. The finest of South African school’s football talent will be competing under the watchful eye of the new Copa Coca-Cola ambassador and scout, Jabu ‘Shuffle’ Mahlangu. While competing to be crowned Copa Coca-Cola champions, a total of 15 players will be hand-picked during the national finals for a once in a lifetime opportunity to form part of the Copa Coca-Cola Future Stars camp.

The Copa Coca-Cola Future Stars camp will see the selected players getting a taste of professional football while being taught essential life skills required to maintain a professional football career. From the Eastern Cape, Zolani Junior Secondary School goalkeeper Belelani Sampo was selected by the Copa Coca-Cola Ambassador and will join other talented players from the eight remaining provinces.

The next stop is the Copa Coca-Cola Northern Cape provincial play-offs in July where Mahlangu will be to identify more players for the Copa Coca-Cola Superstars camp.

“A school’s football development initiative such as the Copa Coca-Cola tournament is exactly what South African football needs to move forward and this is demonstrated in how the tournament has produced a number of quality footballers that I remember playing against in my career. I am looking forward to contributing in unearthing the future of South African football through the Copa Coca-Cola Future Stars search,” said Mahlangu.

Malcomess Secondary School was crowned the champions of the Copa Coca-Cola Eastern Cape play-offs. This was after a hard fought 2-0 victory over Zolani Secondary School in a tightly contested final played at the Thandanani Stadium in Matatiele on June 2.

Even after getting off to a rather challenging start with a 1-1 draw in their opening fixture against Zolani Secondary, the newly crowned champions showed character in their next fixture with a 3-1 drubbing of General Maqhutyana Technical High School. This was before thrashing Fort Malan Secondary School 5-0 to secure a place in the finals.

Their opponents, Zolani Secondary also had to show character in their group A matches. A last-minute gasp in the second half saw them grab three vital points in their opener against Ndzondelelo High School before edging the highly spirited Arthur Nzunga Senior Secondary School 2-1. Eventually, Zolani Secondary sealed their place in the finals with a 2-0 victory over Archie Mbolekwa Higher Primary School.

With Malcomess Secondary claiming the Copa Coca-Cola Eastern Cape crown, they became the first province to secure a place in the Copa Coca-Cola national finals set to take place at the Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth from September 26 to 29.