Former Bafana Bafana player Tlou Segolela disagrees with head coach Hugo Broos on the ability of Cassius Mailula to play in Europe next season.
Broos stated the Mamelodi Sundowns player is not ready to play overseas yet, and he made this statement during his announcement of his final squad on Friday, March 17.
Mailula has expectedly made the final Bafana squad that will play against Liberia in two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, on the 24th and 28th of March. He has been a force to be reckoned with in
the Dstv Premiership, having scored nine goals in the league, being level with SuperSport United striker
Bradley Grobler and just two goals shy of leading goalscorer Peter Shalulile.
In an exclusive interview with ThisIsFootball.Africa, former Orlando Pirates player Segolela feels that the Sundowns playmaker should go abroad if an opportunity presents itself.
“You can tell the boy is mature and a good poacher. He knows how to find space and knows
how to push himself, his familiarity with the deadly areas. In football, we are playing for that
you know, if you don’t score goals you can’t win matches and he is doing exactly that. For
someone at his age to mature at that level says a lot about his ability and it’s not a surprise. We
haven’t had a player like him in a while in South Africa and that just shows how special the boy is,” Segolela told ThisIsFootball.Africa
“And his inclusion into the national team, speaks to the encouragement of coach Broos, and the
boy deserves to be there because he has done very well so far. We just have to see how the boy
performs on the international stage.
“But with the talent that he has, there’s no doubt that he is exceptionally good. Look if there’s a
measurement of who can play abroad at what time, I would understand, but in football,
there’s no measurement but people say it goes with experience. They say what if or what if not
and if the time and opportunity came then why not? I think we are good when we are given a
chance. Others give their opinions but if he gets a chance I feel he should take it, he will only
know when he gets there.
“But coach Broos says ‘It’s early for him to go, he is not ready to play abroad’. How do you
measure that if he’s not ready? What if he goes there and performs you know? What if he goes
there and becomes something else to the world? So we can only tell when he gets that
particular opportunity but who are we to say Mailula is not ready? I say this again, you are only
good when you get the opportunity.
“So what I am trying to say is nobody can tell us he can’t compete in Europe. The boy
demonstrated that he is brilliant, it took him two years to play in the senior team of Sundowns and
the PSL. That says something about the boy. He has it in him, it shows he can adjust quickly. I also believe that the current crop of youngsters has it in them to make it. If an opportunity comes for Mailula I would not think twice if I was him, you know, if the deal makes sense then why not play abroad? That’s where you need to be, to compete with the best because that’s where the best players are playing,” Segolela said.
The playmaker has been a regular for Mamelodi Sundowns, competing with Bongani Zungu,
Sipho Mbule and Chilean international footballer Marcelo Allende.