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By SportsBeast
Twitter- @SportsBeastSA
(Percy Tau, the 23 year-old @Masandawana & South African international forward who features predominantly in my article.)
The state of South African youth football has improved drastically since the introduction of the MDC Asidlali Diski Challenge. This is the reserve league for the Absa Premier League (South Africa's Top flight football league) where every club in this particular league, has to have a reserve team competing in this reserve league (MDC Asidlali Diski Challenge) for players who are inactive in the first team & particularly to help make the step up to first-team football easier for academy graduates. It is currently in it's fourth season & the eventual winners of this mini league get to experience a perhaps once in a lifetime opportunity for those who will unfortunately never play football professionally in Europe to fly out to Holland & get to train in world-class facilities with world-class coaches, & also get to compete with the best reserve & under-21 teams in Europe.
Those who will be lucky enough to get a chance to ply their trade in the established leagues of Europe get to have an understanding of the ins & outs of football in Europe & know what to expect when the time comes for them to take the leap of faith. We are also seeing a decline in foreign national football players coming to play in the Absa Primier League because coaches are now brave enough to take a chance on playing these young players that play in the MDC Asidlali Diski Challenge, the league that has provided a platform for them to showcase their God given talent to the football fraternity of South Africa & those who are ready for the step up to first team football, to prove that they can chip in with decent performances consistently in high pressured encounters with TV coverage & packed stadiums. To further prove how effective & successful the reserve league has been since its inception, you simply have to look at the drastic decline in the average ages of clubs competing in the top flight of South African football since the introduction of the MDC Asidlali Diski Challenge in 2013.
Some young players have gone on to be integral parts of their respective sides, like Percy Tau (23) for example, who was a menace to North African clubs in Mamelodi Sundowns's journey to becoming CAF Champions League winners (equivalent to the UEFA Champions League). He even scored a cracker of a goal that turned out to be the only goal Mamelodi Sundowns registered during their first participation in a Club World Cup, earlier this year in Japan. He has subsequently been nominated for the African player of the year (based in Africa) & also in the main African player of the year category along other African international superstars who ply their trade in Europe as he has even been firing on all cylinders for the South African national football team too after making his debut for Bafana Bafana. His first goal came against the "Super Eagles" of Nigeria in a 3-1 win over the West African giants for South Africa in an AFCON qualifier. He recently caused a major headache to Bakary Kone of Burkina Faso in another big win for Bafana Bafana (South African national football team) in the World Cup qualifiers, & is expected by many to be snapped up by a team in Europe by the end of the season. This is simply down to the platform provided by the MDC Asidlali Diski Challenge (reserve league), which is a great initiative & one that has been long overdue.