Kasi football entertainer ‘Blackberry’ defends showboating at Philly’s Games

05 January 2023 - 11:22
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Kasi football entertainer Xolani ‘Blackberry’ Nkala says there is a place for Philly’s Games in South African football.
Kasi football entertainer Xolani ‘Blackberry’ Nkala says there is a place for Philly’s Games in South African football.
Image: MAHLATSE MPHAHLELE

Popular kasi football entertainer Xolani “Blackberry” Nkala has defended the showboating that was the order of the day during the Philly's Games tournament played this month.

The televised tournament, that was largely played on some of the gravel fields in Thembisa and ended with One Lion crowned champions after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Isithembiso on Monday, grabbed headlines due to the extravagant showboating that is a feature of its matches.

In one of the games, Isithembiso players fell to the ground and allowed Phanda Phanda to gain possession and score a consolation goal while leading by a bigger margin on aggregate,  drawing ridicule and applause in equal measure.

Nkala, who is also on the books of National First Division (NFD) side Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) and played for AT Mambas at this year’s tournament, said there is space for informal football.

“This tournament has a place in our football — you can see with the things we do here we are showcasing what we can do as South Africans. I am just going to say this football here at the Philly’s Games is like Brazilian [soccer].

“If you take Brazilian football and put it here it will be like kasi [township] football. In kasi football you can do anything like skills the way the likes of Neymar do it.

“Those Brazilians can play in Europe. These games are nice because we can also showcase out talent and how good we are. It is a great tournament because we can impress and show people how South African football is.

“You watch [SA professional football in the Premier Soccer League], and every day we play like we are in England — but we are not in England; we are South Africans. This tournament shows that South Africans have skill and talent.

“If you play against Brazil they can dominate you with skill. This is a nice tournament because we have players who can express themselves with their skills to entertain the crowd.

“PSL teams must give us the opportunity to play and they will see how good we are.”

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