AmaZulu’s Mali says losing Mbokazi to Pirates is part of scouting

AmaZulu head of football strategy Sinesipho Mali says the club should not dwell on missing out on Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who later joined Orlando Pirates’ DStv Diski Challenge team.

AmaZulu were the first professional club Mbokazi trained with and the defender was close to signing for the KwaZulu-Natal side. However, Pirates became aware of his ability and made an offer to his representatives that they could not turn down.

Speaking to journalists at the University of Pretoria, Mali said youth scouts inevitably lose players to bigger clubs and should not regard such outcomes as a failure.

“I wasn’t at AmaZulu at the time. I first saw Mbokazi for the first time playing for Pirates DDC and obviously when he came into the youth national team but it’s part of the process, you cannot have all the players,” Mali said.

“I always tell young scouts, if you’re scared to lose players, you have not scouted. You know players come and go, you cannot have them all hey.”

Mali, a former SAFA and Bafana Bafana head of performance analysis, said the circumstances at a club could be decisive in determining whether a young player received a first-team opportunity.

“Sometimes context is important, because maybe at the time, even if he played at AmaZulu, maybe the chance for him to be promoted, because of the needs of the first team, was minimal and perhaps the country would not have seen him,” he said.

Mbokazi’s move to Pirates gave him the platform to progress, with an opening appearing during the season after Thabiso Sesane suffered an injury.

“He took the route he took, which is Pirates, and the context at Pirates, the composition of the squad allowed him to be able to take that step. Look at it, it was in the middle of the season when he got an opportunity. It was because of an injury to (Thabiso) Sesane, and then he got an opportunity,” Mali added.

“So, it is like that. So, the rest is history as they always say. I know people will always look at it as, ‘Ah, you lost on this player’, it’s part of the job. It’s very easy in hindsight, isn’t it?”

Mali said scouting decisions had to be judged according to the information and circumstances available at the time, rather than with the benefit of hindsight.

“Because in hindsight, everyone is correct, but you don’t make a decision three years from now, you make a decision now,” he said.

He also praised Mbokazi’s progress, describing the young player as both an outstanding footballer and an impressive person.

“And ja, what a career Mbokazi is having. What a player! Amazing player, amazing human being. The things that he does at his age, the ability at the highest level is something I’ve never seen.”