Comparison to Khama Billiat doesn't faze Keletso Makgalwa

The tag of being “the next Khama Billiat” doesn’t weigh Keletso Makgalwa down‚ he wears it with pride – driven to not only match but surpass the achievements of the Zimbabwean forward.

The 20-year-old lad from Mokopane in Limpopo speaks affectionately about the Mamelodi Sundowns’ star‚ Billiat.

Makgalwa has even modeled certain elements of his game on Billiat‚ from the delicate first touch that can control an egg without breaking it‚ to how he takes on defenders and even the Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired celebration that follows his every goal.

“I and Khama play more or less the same type of football‚” Makgalwa boasts.

“He is at the top and I am still coming up. I can be better than him at some stage. This isn’t arrogance speaking but the drive of where I want to be.

"Khama is my idol and I want to achieve some of the things that he has achieved. That’s why I have set myself a target of doing better than him.

"If I fall short‚ and achieve what he achieved‚ I would have done well and would be in good company. He is my role model. I watch the first team train now and then because that’s where I want to be.”

Makgalwa inspired the Brazilians’ reserve team to finally lift the MultiChoice Diski Challenge (MDC) earlier this year.

That triumph came four months after the first team won the Caf Champions League.

Motjeka Madisha and a shell-shocked Percy Tau returned from Egypt with the biggest title in club football on the continent‚ inspiring Makgalwa.

He is keen on following in their footsteps as not long ago he called the pair teammates in the reserve team.

But Madisha and Tau didn’t immediately graduate from the reserve team to the first team.

They went there via loan stints.

Madisha went to Highlands Park to get more game time while Tau returned home to play for Witbank Spurs in the first division.

“The NFD is a tough league‚” Makgalwa said.

“The people who are playing there have big hearts. If I don’t get promoted to the Sundowns’ first team‚ I would love to go to the first division to get game time and see where I am so that I can improve.

“Percy grew in his time there and he came back and did the job for the first team upon his promotion.

"Madisha and Percy are a great inspiration for us. They were playing with me in the MDC not so long ago‚ now they are doing well in the first team and they are also African champions.”

Makgalwa needs to step up and show his growth before he can re-unite with Madisha and Tau in the first team. But his raw talent‚ drive and skills have shown that in the right hands he can be a force.

That’s why it brings joy to him that waiting in the first team is coach Pitso Mosimane.

“Jingles” and his technical team have molded players like Bongani Zungu‚ Tau‚ Madisha and Billiat – turning them from promising players to a force in the country and the continent.

“It will take a lot of hard work for me to get to the first team‚” Makgalwa said.

“I also need to score goals because coach Pitso Mosimane wants attackers who score goals.

"For me coach Pitso is the best coach in Africa. He works hard at training and if he believes in you‚ he will constantly shout at you so that you can reach the level he wants you to be at.

"Percy didn’t score much before he worked with coach Pitso and now he scores regularly.”

- TimesLIVE