Another hugely talented KZN teen footballer signs for Portugal giants

Another hugely talented young footballer from the KwaZulu-Natal Academy has concluded a dream move to Europe after Sphephelo Sithole joined Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon.

The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the top talents in the country and joins another KZN Academy graduate‚ Thabo Cele‚ in the City of Light with the latter at Sporting’s great rivals Benfica.

“It is the most amazing feeling for me to have signed with a team the size of Sporting Lisbon‚ who have developed so many top international players down the years‚” Sithole says.

“I know there is a lot of hard work ahead of me‚ but this has always been my dream and I will give it everything I have. I have such amazing support back home with my family and at the KZN Academy‚ and I am on this journey for them as much as myself.

“I must thank KZN Academy managing director Carlos Catalino for believing in my talent‚ as well as all the coaches there who have helped to get me to this point.

“I am very excited about what the future may hold and want to grab this opportunity with both hands and make everybody in South Africa proud of me.”

Tall and powerful‚ Sithole is in a similar mould to Bongani Zungu‚ who has been a huge success at Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes since the start of 2017.

“Sphephelo is a wonderful talent who knows the value of hard work and we are delighted for him to have this opportunity to build a career in Europe at one of the biggest clubs in Portugal‚” Catalino said.

“We are delighted too that another of our graduates from the KZN Academy has taken the step up to the professional game and this shows the tremendous benefit that the FIFA 2010 Legacy Trust has had in developing our stars of tomorrow.”

Sithole was part of the South Africa squad that competed at the 2015 FIFA Under-17 World Cup and is one of a number of KZN Academy players looking to make a name for themselves in Portugal.

Striker Romario Morris and midfielder Simo Mbhele will spend this season at lower league side S.U. 1º Dezembro on loan from the academy.