Thulani shines at real Ajax

So Ajax Amsterdam played Brondby and beat the Danish side 3-0. Who cares? I hear you murmuring. You should care.

Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane should care.

And every South African soccer supporter worth their salt should care.

We all should care because Thulani Caleeb Serero scored his first goal on debut for the four-times champions of Europe.

Even more reason for us to care is because Serero's skill, since transferring from Ajax Cape Town, has left his coach, Dutch legend Frank de Boer, waxing lyrical.

"Serero is a player with talent dripping off him. He is incredibly quick and a very clever player.

"We had favourable reports on the boy before we signed him," De Boer said on the Ajax website.

"But he has turned out better, even [more] than I expected. His speed is impressive and his football brain is sharp as well."

Many will caution me to curb my enthusiasm.

They will remind me that one Mbulelo Mabizela took the English Premier League by storm when he announced his arrival at Tottenham Hotspur with a thunderbolt goal on debut.

The two are not cut from the same cloth. One has his head screwed on right while the other seems to have a loose screw that he has been struggling to tighten his entire career.

Also, if he drinks, Serero does not do so with the intention of replacing blood with liquor in his system.

We should care about Serero because he turned on the magic on Sunday.

The 21-year-old from Senaoane in Soweto was in fine fettle, this time against Club Atletico Independiente, creating two goals in a 5-1 triumph for Ajax on their home pitch. Man of the match it was for the man many see as the next heartbeat of Bafana Bafana.

You may wonder whether he will not suffer a fate similar to Bongani Khumalo - sign for a big club in a big league only to be loaned out to a lower league.

It is a legitimate concern, considering that some of our exports have battled to break into the starting 11 of their new clubs. It happened to Kagisho Dikgacoi, who signed for Fulham but was shipped to Crystal Palace.

De Boer has given strong signs that Serero won't suffer a similar fate.

Together with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, Derk Boerrigter and Theo Janssen, Serero is part of a quartet of young players De Boer will draft into the first team for the coming Dutch Eredivisie campaign.

"With these four reinforcements I will have a nice, wide selection which will give me cover in their respective positions. And because it is a young group, all the players are guaranteed playing time."

At 21, Serero has fulfilled a lifelong ambition to test himself among the best.

His journey has only just begun but silky slick Serero seems to be on the highway to superstardom.

"Now that I've earned a contract, I'm sure that Ajax has faith in me. I obviously need to prove myself every day, but it makes a big difference now that I'm here to stay," said Serero after joining Ajax Amsterdam. And long may he stay and do even better than countrymen Steven Pienaar, Benni McCarthy and Aaron Mokoena, who were all there before him.