A legendary Orlando Pirates player’s son is making waves at arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs and seems poised to establish himself at Naturena.
Following his recruitment by Arthur Zwane in 2019, Samkelo Zwane is excelling the most for the Chiefs, and his father Eugene is pleased with how well his 20-year-old son is progressing.
And despite the fact that Eugene is a legendary Pirate, the retired left-winger doesn’t appear the least bit worried by this.
Eugene said that when he was just seven years old, he saw the centre midfielder’s aptitude for the Chiefs DStv Diski Challenge (DDC).
Samkelo was playing rugby at the time since his school was unable to provide football, and the Pirates great promptly transferred the future Chiefs superstar to a school that did.
Samkelo has had a trouble-free life since then, and after three years with the DDC team, he is currently trying to get promoted to the Chiefs first team.
Orlando Pirates Legend Proud Of His Rising Kaizer Chiefs Star Son
“I realised that this boy would be a good footballer when he was seven. At that time, he was playing rugby at his primary school [Maragon Mooikloof, private school in Pretoria] because they didn’t have football. I quickly transferred him to King’s College in Marlboro where there’s football. He always had that bond with the ball, keeping it in between his legs even when he was just seated,” Eugene Zwane told Sowetan.
Eugene Zwane Tried To Get Samkelo To Play For Orlando Pirates
The former Jomo Cosmos and SuperSport United player also disclosed that he had at first attempted to get Samkelo to join Pirates.
The fact that Samkelo’s transfer to Pirates proved to be financially expensive and that his school (King’s College) and Mayfair were just too far apart meant that things never truly worked out.
“I did enroll him once at Pirates but there were issues with transport because Pirates were training in Mayfair and he was studying at King’s College. There was a time where I had someone transporting him but it was costly and inconvenient, so it didn’t work out,” Eugene said.
Eugene’s Personal Relationship With Arthur Zwane Had Nothing To Do With Samkelo’s Move To Kaizer Chiefs
Although distant cousins, Eugene and Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane had no influence on Samkelo transferring to Naturena, according to the Pirates legend.
“A lot of people think Arthur just recruited him to join Chiefs because of our relationship. That’s not true because the boy was playing for Panorama Under-17 and he excelled there, that’s when Arthur invited him to come train with Chiefs in 2019. He went straight to their Diski team,” explained Eugene.
“Arthur is my distant relative but we’ve known each other long before this football thing. I even played for his uncle’s club called Liverpool way back in Soweto when we were growing up. Our parents were very close. The boy is maturing. He’s beginning to understand the demands of professional football. He’s putting in a hard work. I think he’s ready for top-flight football,” he added.