Kasi soccer skills: Kaizer Chiefs' Mduduzi Shabalala flava skills [video]

Mduduzi Shabalala of Kaizer Chiefs. Photo: BackpagePix

WATCH: Chiefs youngster showboating, ‘arrogance on the ball’

There was an interesting reaction from Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane when describing Mduduzi Shabalala’s ‘arrogance on the ball’.

by Craig Lewis

27-02-2023 07:19

in Premier Soccer League

Mduduzi Shabalala of Kaizer Chiefs. Photo: BackpagePix

Shabalala, who is still just 19 years old, started his first Soweto derby for Chiefs this past weekend and certainly showed enough glimpses of his confidence and capabilities to vindicate the widely-held view that he is one of the brightest young prospects in South African football.

However, the youngster did raise some eyebrows with a display of ‘showboating’ just before half-time. As you can see in the clip below, Shabalala received the ball out wide, spun around extravagantly and even wiped away some sweat with his jersey before passing to a teammate.

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It was perhaps a sign of how comfortable he felt at the highest level, but some have criticised the perceived act of ‘showboating’ at a time when this remains a contentious topic in the local game.

“It was good to see a youngster like Mduduzi going in there and showcasing his talent, showing a bit of arrogance here on the ball and I just hope he will grow in stature and become one of the best players in the future,” Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane notably commented afterwards.

“Mdu is a special talent, he’s more like Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, though he is a bit explosive, I’m a believer in giving youngsters the opportunity because I was once a youngster and I was given a fair chance to express myself.”

You can watch the clip of the Chiefs youngster below:

What is this? 🤔 Super Diski? Shabalala is young so I can forgive him, but the quality of this match has been poor, its not like you are leading so you can pull this sort of thing on the pitch. Very disjointed, by both teams. 🟡⚫️

Kaizer Chiefs 0-0 Orlando Pirates#SowetoDerby pic.twitter.com/AAer257BL5
— Sahil 🇿🇦🔴⚪️⚫️ (@sahil_e) February 25, 2023

Meanwhile, when discussing the opportunities that are opening up at Chiefs for youngsters, Zwane said it was a key part of the club’s history.

“Whenever Chiefs dominated, they had quite a few development youngsters that understand the culture and know what it means to play for a team of Chiefs’ calibre and then from that, we can build a very strong team, with a strong foundation.

“Our youngsters now are doing well, we have a very strong spine, we just need to make sure we keep doing the right things – when Mdu plays for 90 minutes in a game of this magnitude, it encourages other youngsters to want to be part that in future.”