South African youngster invited for trials at AC Milan
A young South African footballer, Lesedi Thaba is among 11 players from the African continent invited for trials at Italian giants AC Milan. Thaba is a 22-year-old from Ga-Mothiba in Limpopo.
He was invited to a month-long trial after impressing the club scouts during a Cape Town trial edition in November last year.
Despite being an unknown player, Thaba has also been in the books of Motsepe Foundation Championship side Pretoria Callies. The left-back started his football journey at the age of 13 when he played for a club owned by his father, Jerry Thaba.
He has played in the SAFA Limpopo ABC Motsepe League for Boyne Tigers. Thaba was playing in the local leagues before the invitation for the trials.
He is set to jet off to Milan on Saturday morning from Cape Town. According to Thaba’s father, the trials will be from 12 February until 16 March 2025.
FAMILY OF LIMPOPO YOUNG PLAYER THRILLED AFTER INVITE FROM SERIE A GIANTS
“I am over the moon. I never expected it to happen to him at this stage,” Thaba senior told FARPost.
“He is still young. You can see he is still very young. He is a very talented player. I still remember when he was still very young, at the age of seven. I could see a player just by him trapping the ball.”
Thaba says it remains a surprise to him that local clubs continue to neglect his son.
“I don’t why [South African teams never noticed him]. It’s only God who knows. Maybe they thought he didn’t have the potential. But all of a sudden, he is moving from here to AC Milan.”
“I think professionally, this is going to change his life. I think this is going to change his life altogether. As a family, we are hoping that he makes it on that side because this will also have an impact on us.”
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