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Sukazi Shares Lessons To Clubs After Landmark European Tour
TS Galaxy chairman Tim Sukazi has challenged all PSL teams to follow his club's lead in touring Europe, for the benefit of the country's football.
Galaxy became the first DStv Premiership side to tour Europe, after they held their mid-season training camp in the city of Antalya in Turkey, where they played FIFA-approved friendly matches against Turkish side Giresunspor, Sampdoria from the Italian Serie A and Saudi Arabian outfit Al Batin.
Sukazi says the two-month break almost midway through the season in the PSL and across many leagues around the world, due to FIFA World Cup that was held in Qatar, has necessitated the need to find ways on how to deal with this unprecedented recess.
The Rockets owner has explained that the best way to learn how to conduct, essentially a second pre-season training within the same league period, is to observe how European clubs are dealing with the situation.
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In addition, Sukazi has urged more South African clubs to tour Europe, as that would improve the standard of the game in the PSL.
"I hope us being the first club to take this kind of an adventure, I hope to see more South African clubs also touring Europe," Sukazi said on Metro FM Sports.
"Because if we could really benchmark ourselves as a group, let's say ten or eight clubs, maybe we stand a chance of lifting our game.
"We can't sit and complain about the standard of our game, our standard of the national team, who knows what, maybe other players could be seen and get the opportunity to play in Europe. And that will also again help improve the standard of our senior national team," he said.
The former sports agent went on to suggest that the benefit of clubs touring Europe would give players a shopping window to overseas clubs, without necessarily having to go to trials.
And the more players from South Africa can get opportunities to play in Europe through such an initiative, Sukazi, a lawyer by profession argues, Bafana will benefit and would stand toe to toe with some football powerhouses on the continent like Ghana and Senegal, who were at the recently completed FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
"I'm not doing it really for only TS Galaxy, we're doing it for football South Africa as well. Because let's say for example, I'm talking now in the next few years," he carried on.
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"If four, five clubs would do such a thing and plus players from South Africa get an opportunity to be seen, in their own setup, playing for their own teams, as opposed to them going for trials," he stressed.
"And maybe get an opportunity to be snatched by one or two clubs, we as a country, would be like the Senegals of this world, the Ghanaians of this world, have a plethora, a number of players playing in Europe. So I think that could come and assist our national team," he added.
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