Orlando Pirates legendary defender Siyabonga Nsimbi Sangweni has spoken glowingly of the club's prodigy centre-back Mbekezeli Mbokazi, asserting he deserves to play overseas, where he can play for any team.
At 19, Mbokazi, who hails from Hluhluwe in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, has established himself as one of the best defenders in the PSL, barely a year after making his senior debut. TLB, as Mbokazi is now affectionately known in local football circles, boasts just 19 top-flight appearances, having made his professional debut last December. In June, Mbokazi also made his Bafana Bafana debut.
The boy Mbokazi is doing very well. It shows that he's a rural boy. I don't know his full background but I know he's from a rural area. If he can continue like this and be disciplined, knowing what he wants, he can go very far. I believe he can even go overseas... in fact he deserves that. He can play for any team in the world,'' Sangweni, who made 107 appearances and scored 10 times for Bucs, said.
The 43-year-old Nsimbi, who's also from a rural area of Dondotha in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal as well, explained what he likes the most about Mbokazi, also highlighting his weakness that he must fix going forward.
What I like the most about him is that he's physically strong and he doesn't fall down easily. He's fearless. One thing that I think he must improve is that tendency of passing the ball inside in the midfield, that makes it very difficult for the team to recover in case the opposition wins the ball. He must fix that,'' Sangweni said.