Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy has offered advice and encouragement to 16-year-old Emile Witbooi during his current assessment with Chelsea.
The Cape Town City teenager is currently spending a month in London at Chelsea, being assessed by the club.
McCarthy, who starred in the English top-flight with Blackburn Rovers, and is the all-time record scorer for the country, weighed in on the situation.
South Africa’s only footballer to win the UEFA Champions League, has said that Witbooi is at the perfect age to step into the next stage of his career, and said that he must be mentally prepared and give his everything during his month in London
“I’ve heard a LOT of good things about him,” McCarthy, who coached Witbooi’s dad Surprise Ralani at City, told iDiski Times editor Rob Delport.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. And you know what? Perfect age, because he’s what, 16? The perfect age, like when your understanding of football is just starting to become clear, and now you get an opportunity to go to one of the powerhouses in European football.
“So, I’ll be keeping a close eye on that one, I’ll be monitoring him, but I genuinely hope that he makes a success there, that he can use all his capabilities that he’s been taught up until now to give the best push that he needs to — because you don’t get a chance like that often.
“He’ll be up against the best players in the world. Because the Premier League has become that, because it’s such a lucrative league, all the best players in the world, from all countries, want to come and play in the Premier League.
“If you’re that age, that’s the perfect age to break into the system. So I really hope, in his head, he should be thinking, ‘This is make or break for me!’
“If you are on trials at Chelsea FC, and Chelsea is one of the top teams in the Premier League, top five teams in the Premier League, and that’s massive, but it’s worldwide you know, the players that have played there, and you’re not going to get a bigger and a better first opportunity than Chelsea.
“So he’s got to go and treat it as ‘This is life or death’, ‘Make it or break it’.
“Yes, you’ll get opportunities to play elsewhere if you don’t make it at Chelsea, it’s not the end of the road — but in his mind, he should treat it like it is the end of the world, like there’s nothing else after this.
“Because, ja, nothing is going to be that big ever at his age.”
You can read the full story in Edition 180 of the iDiski Times e-paper, free on WhatsApp.
