Stellenbosch FC head coach Gavin Hunt has compared hat-trick hero Quwan Plaatjies with legendary Bafana Bafana striker Mark Williams.
Plaatjies, 20, has come through Stellies’ reserve side, helping them to win the DStv Diski Challenge in the 2023/24 season. The 20-year-old shone during the NEXTGen tournament in the United Kingdom, scoring a brilliant goal against Everton.
After that great trip to the UK, everybody expected him to break through into the team but he never did last campaign, as he continued to play in the reserves league. After almost two years since his UK trip, he finally made his senior debut for Stellies against Marumo Gallants down in Cape Town on Friday.
Plaatjies shocked the whole country after netting a hat-trick to seal Stellenbosch’s first win of the season. Hunt immediately pointed out that he is more like South African hero Williams who didn’t get involved in the game but when it comes to scoring, he will score.
“I saw him last season. He’s not a striker. This boy, he’s a goal scorer. Now there’s a big difference for me. He’s like, if I’m going to say this, It’s going to be all over the media, like, Mark Williams,” Hunt told the media.
“The build-ups, you don’t get him involved, but he can score goals. I saw him in pre-season. I thought, my God, and the name when I saw his name as well, I went, my God, hope he’s not a road runner…
“But he’s a goal scorer, he’s a natural goalscorer, and that’s hard to find, and there’s a difference between a striker and a goal scorer – a striker holds it up and he can run, and press, and this guy scores goals.
“In training, he scores goals every day, and he went in pres-eason. He was scoring goals, and I thought, yeah, tonight’s the night at home. I wouldn’t play him too much away yet. It’s a bit early for that.”