Orlando Pirates starlet Boitumelo Radiopane has a clear ambitious mindset for the COSAFA Cup tournament which is currently underway in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
The 19-year-old frontman has promised to give his everything to help Bafana Bafana in their quest to defend the regional competition title.
South Africa will face Mozambique in the quarter-finals of the tournament on Wednesday, 13 July.
This will not be the Buccaneers’ teenage sensation’s first COSAFA Cup tournament as he has represented Amajimbos in the 2018 COSAFA Under-17 Men’s Championship held in Mauritius, where they finished as runner-ups following a 1-0 loss to Angola in the finals.
“This is not my first COSAFA tournament, having last featured in the 2018 COSAFA Under-17 Men’s Champions edition. We lost to Angola in the final and no one was happy with that outcome. I for one, have since grown from it, hence why I am here,” Radiopane told SAFA’s official site.
The youngster had an outstanding season in the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC), having finished as the top goalscorer with a whopping 25 goals in 27 appearances.
Given his stellar performances in the DDC last campaign, the Soweto giants prodigy was crowned the DDC Player of the Season.
But now the hope is that the in-form forward will be the solution for coach Helman Mkhalele’s side as far as goal scoring is concerned.
“The selection process for the Bafana Bafana squad has not been an easy one because there were a whole lot of talented players to choose from in the provisional squad,” he said.
“I am ready to pounce on all of my opportunities, should I be given a chance to play.
“I am just grateful to be here and my focus now is to do well for the nation in this tournament, starting with the Mozambique game. I take my opportunities very seriously, and you can bet that, should I be given the nod to play; I’m going to make full use of it.
“We are the defending champions and it is upon us to ensure that we emulate last year’s Bafana Bafana squad by winning and defending this title.”
Radiopane expressed his gratitude to Pirates technical team for guiding him to become who he is today.
“I would like to thank my club (Orlando Pirates) for paying special attention to my growth and development as a player,” Radiopane said. “Coach Mandla Ncikazi was the one who promoted me into the Reserve League. I’ve done well there and now they have presented me with another opportunity to grow at Cape Town Spurs in the NFD,” Radiopane added.
The talented goal poacher recently moved to Cape Town Spurs on a loan move and he believes that the loan move will help him to learn from coach Shaun Bartlet, who played as a striker before.
“Coach Shaun is one of the top strikers the country has ever produced and I’ve looked up to him ever since I was young. Now I’ll be learning from him first hand and I can’t wait for that experience,” he divulged.
In his closing remarks, Radiopane sent an optimistic message to Bafana supporters across the country that the team will give everything to make them happy because they deserve that.
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