Kaizer Chiefs product lauded: ‘He is a diamond, future of South African football’

Kaizer Chiefs product Puso Dithejane is part of coach Pitso Mosimane’s Bafana Bafana team that will play Guinea this weekend.

On Saturday, South Africa play the National Elephants at the Orlando Stadium aiming at getting maximum points in Group D and stand a chance of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations to be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Dithejane made his name at TS Galaxy after leaving the Glamour Boys unceremoniously. The Major League Soccer outfit Chicago Fire eventually snapped him up at the beginning of the American season.

In his interview with Soccer Laduma, coach Adnan Beganovic explained why he expected Dithejane to continue soaring.

I know his mental strength

“We have been in touch, even now. He sent me a message a couple of days ago. If you have time to check my interviews from before, when I spoke about him while he was at TS Galaxy, I said that this guy deserves a national team call-up. He is a real Bafana Bafana player,” Beganovic stated.

“He is a diamond. We need to polish him, we need to work with him, not only me, but all of us, because he is the future of South African football.

“When he moved to Chicago Fire, I said he is young. He is a young boy, actually. He is still a child, and he needs time to adapt. Even when he came from the DDC at Kaizer Chiefs to us, he needed time to adapt and understand our football.

“I know his mental strength and his mentality, so when he moved to the United States, he needed time to adapt to that environment and mentality. Then he will shine, 100%,” he added.

It is a process!

“Slowly, slowly, it’s a process. You can’t push him like he is not a character like (Mbekezeli) Mbokazi. You can’t push him into the fire and expect him to survive. You need to bring him closer and closer, give him minutes, minutes, slowly but surely,” Begovic further explained.

“Then, when he catches that rhythm and takes those steps with the other players, he can shine and show his amazing skills.

“I am not surprised that Coach Pitso made the call to Chicago Fire to release him for the national team. It’s amazing, and I think it will only be a plus for South African football in the future. He is so young, and I think in the next 10 to 15 years he can play for Bafana Bafana because he has time. But I can promise you, he has the quality to be one of the best players South Africa has had,” he concluded.