Ajax Cape Town midfielder Thulani Serero admitted this week that he didn’t have the right attitude, that he laboured under the misconception that he didn’t have to apply himself to training because he was so talented, but two incidents towards the end of last year brought him down to earth and helped him refocus.
A trip to Holland where he spent two weeks training with the famed Ajax Amsterdam opened his eyes to the level of professionalism and serious manner in which the players applied themselves to their job. It made him realise why there is such a wide gap between European and local clubs.
As the South African league championship heads into the final straight, four teams are jostling to snatch the coveted trophy. But while the spotlight is trained on favourites Orlando Pirates, experts believe Serero and his Ajax Cape Town could turn out to be the joker in the pack.
Ajax’s Dutch coach, Foppe de Haan, has already tipped Pirates as the most likely team to snatch the championship, largely because of their depth and experience, but it could also be a ruse intended to lull them into a false sense of security ahead of their make-or-break clash in Cape Town on Wednesday.
‘Serero did okay in training,” said De Haan this week. ‘Even in small-sided matches he did okay, but he didn’t really work hard. I was amazed at his natural talent, but I wasn’t impressed by his attitude. I felt he could do more, but he went about his job like he was not too interested in it. I called him aside one day and we had a chat. I told him he could become one of the best players, but only if he could change. I told him he needed to listen to me and I would help him realise his dreams. Initially, he did not like strength training, but now, with Khama Billiat, Brett Evans, Brent Carelse and Shameeg Doutie, I noticed a change at the start of this season.
‘He asked for extra training to work on certain aspects of his game, to improve on his weaknesses. Now he works hard and although in the past he used to burn a lot of energy as he ran all over the field, now he uses his skills and pace cleverly and his positional play is excellent.
‘Serero needs to work on his finishing. He hits the ball too often against the crossbar. I think if he can improve on his scoring and be a little more composed, he could finish the season with at least 15 goals, which is not too bad for a midfield player,” said the coach.
Spotting the youngster in the dusty streets
Serero’s mentor, former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Mike Ntombela, agrees. It was Ntombela who recommended Serero to Ajax after spotting the youngster in the dusty streets of Soweto and recruiting him to Senoane Gunners. But he realised that Serero was too special and needed a bigger stage to grow.
Ntombela worked for a sports manufacturing company and organised playing kit for his hometown team, Senoane Gunners. One day, back in 2002, Serero literally took his team to the cleaners during a South African Football Association Soweto tournament and he was promptly recruited.
Though only 14 years old, Ntombela was convinced that the boy was special. And because of his relationship with Ajax Cape Town, after also sending Clifford Ngobeni down south, he was asked to bring Serero when he contacted former club chairman John Comitis about the new sensational youngster with pace to burn.
‘He was supposed to have started in their U15,” recalled Ntombela. ‘But they drafted him in immediately in their U17 and he still showed so much potential that within a year, he had been promoted to the U19. I knew it was only a matter of time before he broke into the first team.
‘When Serame Letsoaka, then coach of the U20 team saw him, he decided that he was going to build the nucleus of his team around him. Little wonder Letsoaka’s team did so well at the CAF African Youth Championships. The world is at Serero’s feet, but only if he keeps his feet on the ground.”
Ajax is on the brink of making history by breaking the Gauteng stranglehold on the championship trophy, largely due to the contribution of players like Serero. But the newly grounded youth disagrees, attributing their success to the team’s resolve at the start of the season to work together, play together and die together.
‘We set ourselves goals at the start of the season,” said Serero this week. ‘Our goal was to end in the top four, but if the opportunity presented itself, we would fight for the championship. We are not going to get excited, but will continue to take each game as it comes. We know there is still a long way to go and our run-in is pretty tough.
‘But we are going to give it our best shot and the one thing that has been to our advantage is that we do not have as much pressure as the Gauteng teams. Our attitude is right and we are focused and geared towards one goal. Pirates, well, they are going to be tough and we also have to play Sundowns away as well as Kaizer Chiefs at home.
‘Those are the three teams that are challenging. If we are to win it, then it is up to us to do what is necessary,” said the boy who thinks so fast, his peers used to call him the ‘Matrix” after the sci-fi movie starring Keano Reeves.
Serero thinks highly of Arsenal’s attacking midfielder, Andrey Arshavin, and locally, he includes among his favourite players Kaizer Chiefs Abia Nale. And although Ajax Amsterdam has indicated that they would like to bring him for another look, Serero would not mind if a team from England or Spain came calling.
Yet, while many players aspire to play for the senior national team, Serero wants nothing more than to prove himself at U23 level with the Olympic team. ‘The opportunity to play for the senior team will happen in time, for now I would love to prove myself in the U23.”