Relebohile Mofokeng has been described as a once-in-a-generation player by Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou after another stunning individual performance in Tuesday’s 5-0 thumping of Lamontville Golden Arrows.
Mofokeng struck the woodwork inside the opening 40 seconds and went on to score two stunning individual goals, underlining his emergence as the star player of this season’s Betway Premiership.
The 21-year-old netted a hat-trick in his last league game against TS Galaxy before the international window and came close to another on Tuesday and now has nine league goals this season.
“I don't like to speak individually about the players, you know, because for me, I always say that the individuality, or the individual project, should be at the service of the collective project,” said Ouaddou after Tuesday’s triumph.
“But as you ask me that question, let me say these kinds of players you get like every 10 or 15 years.
“He has talent. It is in his blood, he's still young. Of course, we need to give him some instruction in order to be even more efficient, especially in that area (of the field) where there are a lot of duels. It's crowded,” added the coach.
“The talent he has, technicality yes, the intelligence he has this, but sometimes when you have such quality like that, sometimes you misuse these qualities. Our job is just to make him aware that there are some strategic areas on the pitch where he needs to limit his touches and to use his cleverness.
“He has been doing this for a lot of games now. You can see that he's able to give assists to his teammates. He's able to score, he's very mobile in the middle.
“Some people think that he cannot play as a No 10. I think he can play everywhere. Okay … maybe not as a defender!” joked Ouaddou.