Sundowns’ Mngqithi tips youngster Letlhaku for greatness

Breaking into the Mamelodi Sundowns team is not an easy task. But youngster Kutlwano Letlhaku is being tipped for stardom by his coach Manqoba Mngqithi. 

The 18-year-old came off the bench to put his name in lights at the Lucas Moripe Stadium last Saturday night. He scored his first senior goal for the Brazilians in the resounding 5-0 Carling Black Label Knockout last 16 win over Golden Arrows.

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Letlhaku joined the Sundowns from the School of Excellencelast year and his star is on the rise under the guidance of the 53-year-old coach. The talented attacker showed great composure to slot past Arrows goalkeeper Edward Maova to open his account for the Tshwane giants. 

“I must say that he’s one for the future and I believe he’s got a lot to offer. He hasn’t done what I think he’s capable of in terms of him scoring in official matches because he has scored some very good goals in pre-season,” said Mngqithi sabout the left-footed rising prospect. 

“Unfortunately, in official matches, he hasn’t been as brave to take these opportunities because he’s got a brilliant left foot and we still expect a lot from him. He’s a very good player in one against one cutting into the box. 

“There’s still a lot more that I expect from him. I’m excited to see that his teammates do feel that maybe giving him a little bit of a boost is going to take him to the next level because he’s going to be very important for the team going forward.”

Mngqithi is also encouraged with the return to form of experienced striker Peter Shalulile. The Namibian hitman’s goal sparked wild celebrations from his teammates who were happy to see him get back to scoring ways after struggling for both club and country.

“We’ve made it obvious that we have a responsibility to support Peter. We’ve done everything we can, even sometimes playing him in matches when he’s tired but we want him to have minutes to just break the curse and score that goal,” added Mngqithi.

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“I even celebrated his goal. It’s very important that Peter is in top form because we’re going to need all these strikers going forward. The support he’s been getting from the team has been very good. I’ve got a lot of good boys, very sensible human beings who are compassionate and who were also sympathising with Peter in hard moments where he was not getting goals.”