A former PSL coach has shone a spotlight on three more talented youngsters he watched at the 2024 Engen Knockout Challenge in the Eastern Cape.
Talking to Soccer Laduma about the potential on display at the famous Engen tournament in the Eastern Cape last weekend, ex-Chippa United coach Siyabulela Gwambi had high praise for United Brothers attacker Aviwe Dunana. The teenager was among the standout teenagers as he helped inspire his side to the semi-final stage, with Gwambi likening his profile to that of Orlando Pirates' Relebohile Mofokeng.
Now working for SAFA in the Eastern Cape, Gwambi also enjoyed what he saw from Chippa's Avuzwa Mbembe and Ad Adstra girls player Adrienne Schmidt, before telling us his thoughts on the competition as a whole and the boys champions, eBhayi.
Gwambi on Aviwe Dunana...
Aviwe – wow, wow, wow, wow. If we can talk about Mofokeng from Orlando Pirates, then we put Aviwe Dunana in the same sentence. You won't be contradicting yourself because he is in that profile. Very good boy, playing on the left wing, left midfielder, very pacey.
He created and then he took his team to the semi-finals. Whilst I was watching him, he had blond hair, wearing No. 10, kept his position, he never changed. I believe at one stage he was a striker. His team was trailing 1-0 to Young Cosmos in the quarter-finals. It was a derby. But when he went to striker, then he started creating and they ended up winning 3-1. So, he is a team player, he's somebody that has got a huge courage to take his team forward.
Gwambi on Avuzwa Mbembe...
He also had his name down for the midfielder of the tournament because he did exceptionally well. He had all the ingredients that you need in a midfielder. If you can talk about Tinashe Nengomasha, you can talk about (Reneilwe) Letsholonyane. Although he is left-footed, he's got all those ingredients. He's an anchor. He played very well.
Gwambi on Adrienne Schmidt...
Adrienne is a typical box-to-box right-fullback. I'm not sure what happened, whether they made a substitution at Ad Adstra, but amazingly we saw her playing at centre-back and then she mastered that position like it was her position from the start!
As a whole, have you enjoyed the tournament?
I enjoyed it a lot! I said if it can continue for two weeks and I can be on the field, I would be the happiest person on earth! I really enjoyed it. I like the spirit of the place. The boys and the girls enjoyed it, and that's the most important thing… you can have referees, you can have coaches, but if you don't have players, there won't be football.
And a final word on the boys champions, eBhayi FC?
You see, if there's no foundation where you are coming from, there will not be any good results. eBhayi has got a very good foundation. It's a good development project and it's giving hope to those who need to develop and have a football career. eBhayi have recruited the best in Gqeberha, and they've recruited the best coaches. Coincidentally, the coach of the tournament, Caleb van Roogen, I used to coach him when I was still coaching local football. A very, very good boy. He has been developed well as a player, and he's rubbing off on the boys.
