Scout tips Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki for imminent Bafana dance
Old Mutual Football Academy head of scouting, Mzonzima Anderson Xheshisa, strongly believes that Orlando Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki’s Bafana Bafana dance is imminent.
Xheshisa, who discovered Xoki as a 17-year-old playing for Khayelitsha-based side, Goal Hunters in Pinelands, Cape Town, has predicted that the Pirates defender will be in the Bafana set-up in the next six months.
Xoki joined Pirates at the beginning of the 2022/23 season from AmaZulu, and the lanky centre-back has fitted in like a glove in the Soweto giants’ defence.
The 27-year-old has featured in nine of Pirates’ 13 DStv Premiership games so far this season, putting in several good performances.
Xoki also helped the club lift the MTN8 trophy last month in Durban.
TAPELO XOKI DESCRIBED AS A HARD WORKER
“In the next six months he will be in Bafana Bafana,” Xheshisa, who recruited Xoki from Hunters to the Old Mutual Academy told FARPost.
“Xoki works hard, he is a strong man at the back. He will be there in the next six months, in Bafana Bafana, in the next six month.
“As long as he keeps his head cool and working hard and listening to his coaches. He will go far.
“In the Bafana Bafana squad, in the next six months, he will be there,” added Xheshisa.
Xheshisa also stated that he is amazed at how fast Xoki has adapted to life at a big institution like Pirates.
The former AmaZulu captain, Xoki is competing with Olisa Ndah and Bafana international Nkosinathi Sibisi for a place at Pirates.
And Pirates coach Jose Jose Riveiro’s rotation policy has seen all three defenders players regularly at the club.
“I think for me, he (Xoki) surprised me so much. Someone coming from a small team like AmaZulu and then go to a big team like Orlando Pirates,” declared Xheshisa.
“And then within a month, he is in the starting line-up, which means he has acclimatised.
“I am so happy with his performance so far. He is doing very fine; he is doing well. And he is still grounded, and he is still working hard.”
RELATED STORY: Tapelo Xoki: The gem that emerged from the rubble of a humiliating 17-0 rout