Boitumelo Radiopane Boitumelo Radiopane has impressed Orlando Pirates teammate Tshegofatso Mabasa. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
Orlando Pirates talisman Tshegofatso Mabasa says youngster Boitumelo Radiopane brings goals to the team as he’s growing in leaps and bounds as a striker.
Radiopane was on a season-long loan stint at Cape Town Spurs in the last campaign from Pirates, and he showed flashes of his scoring prowess.
However, thanks to injuries, he couldn’t quite live up to lofty billing, which saw the masses rave of his exploits like when he was still in the DStv Diski Challenge with Pirates’ reserves.
But the 22-year-old is back with Pirates this season, and has played five games for the team in the Premiership, scoring one goal.
His abilities and scoring prowess at training have clearly impressed his teammate and fellow attacker Mabasa, as he opened up on what makes him special.
“Goals. He’s a good striker, and a good player. So he definitely brings goals,” said Mabasa during a MTN8 handover event in Diepkloof, Soweto, this week.
“The boy knows how to finish, make runs, when to make runs and how to hold up play. We have already seen that from him.
“So, we just hope that he can consistently deliver for us (especially heading into the final stretch of the season).”
Mabasa is Radiopane’s senior, and that’s why he wants his overall influence to rub off on the youngsters on-and-off-the pitch at Pirates.
And he will hope that there are more goals on the horizon in next Tuesday’s CAF Champions League first leg quarter-final against MC Alger (9pm kick-off) in Algeria.
“I like the sort of relationship I have with Radiopane. I am one person that wants to see the next generation always do well,” Mabasa said.
“I have always been taught that when you get to a place, you must leave it better than how you found it.
“I just want to leave my mark, and hopefully one that has an impact on the next generation.”
Mabasa and Co have already made their mark at the club. They are the first team to win the MTN8 trophy for three successive seasons in the PSL era.
That achievement was huge for the club, so much so that Mabasa, who scored in the final against Stellenbosch FC, said that it still feels surreal.
“It’s a difficult question to answer, but for me, personally, I feel that it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Mabasa admitted.
“We have managed to rewrite history a few times already as a group, but we always want to do more.
“We know what we are capable of, and we are planning to achieve plenty of things as a group.”
Pirates will want to create more memories by also becoming the first team to win the Nedbank Cup on three successive occasions in May.
They are in the semi-final of the competition, in which they’ll face Marumo Gallants on a date and venue set to be announced by the PSL in due course.
Mabasa and Co will want to win the Premiership and CAF Champions League crown even more as they are second on the log, and in the quarter-final, in which they’ll face MC Alger.