Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has reiterated his point that Mamelodi Sundowns red-hot striker Cassius Mailula is not ready to play in Europe, but he has got an important weapon in his game – scoring goals at his club level for fun.
Mailula is experiencing an incredible breakout season and has been carrying the best threat for Sundowns this season, when Peter Shalulile was out injured, scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances for the Tshwane giants.
Nine of those goals have come from league matches, just two behind the league’s leading scorer Shalulile.
Mailula took his chance late last year when the Namibian captain was out injured for sports hernia, with coach Rulani Mokwena throwing in the young striker.
He unflinchingly repaid the coach’s faith with good performances and goals, leading to Mokwena keeping him in the team once Shalulile recovered.
Their pairing up top has seen Sundowns running away with the DStv Premiership and needing a sole win to be crowned champions for the sixth consecutive time.
Malilula’s form prompted coach Broos to call him up for the two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Liberia, starting at Orlando Stadium on Friday and four days later in Monrovia, where six points in the Group K will secure qualification for the AFCON finals in Ivory Coast next year.
Ahead of the double-header, Broos was full of praise for the “grounded” 21-year-old striker.
“When I look at him, his behavior in the group is very good,” the Belgian tactician said.
“He’s a guy that has his two feet on the ground, but there are a lot of things to do about him. He’s a young player that is scoring goals at Sundowns when he wants, and that is very cool.
“So I like that very much.”
But Broos also insisted yet again that Mailula is not a finished article yet to strut his stuff abroad and needs a bit of time before he can head to those shores.
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“Secondly, I said it already a few days ago when somebody asked me if he’s ready for Europe, I’ll repeat again, no, Mailula is not ready for Europe.
“He needs to gain more experience and therefore I hope for him that he stays at Sundowns and plays again in CAF Champions League next year. But his experience is also good. But he has something already now that is very important, he is scoring.
“Once he is in the 16 area and he gets a chance, it’s a goal. He has it already. But if he can have a little bit of experience by playing good games, games of high level, I think we can have a very good striker, certainly.”
Mailula will hope to join a few list of players to score on debut for Bafana such as Doctor Khumalo, Mpho Makola, Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Evidence Makgopa.
