Exciting young Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Hendrick ‘Pule’ Ekstein recently got his first start for Bafana Bafana in a practice match against Lesotho.

Two days earlier, the 24-year-old made his debut for the South African national team, also against Lesotho, when coming on in the second half. Accordingly, Ekstein also came on as a second half substitute against Malawi (winning 2-1).

The first Lesotho clash ended goalless, the second resulted in a 1-1 draw.

However, despite warming-up, Ekstein didn’t come on against Botswana in the Cosafa Cup quarterfinal, which Bafana lost on penalties.

“In the first friendly game,” Ekstein reflects, “I came on in the second half. This gave me an opportunity to assess the game properly during the first half. So when I came on, I knew what to add to the game. The coach also told me where to impact. We didn’t score, but I learnt a lot in terms of what to work on for the second match.”

“The pressure is always there as one wants to impress,” Ekstein reacts, “doing well for the country. The experience of playing those friendlies was good. We had trained very hard and we wanted to succeed. I personally learnt a lot from these three friendlies and we all felt being ready for the Cosafa Cup.”

Bafana, however, failed to go past Botswana.

“I was on bench for the quarterfinal game,” Ekstein concludes. “We had expectations as a team and I had dreams of winning with South Africa. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed. However, it has been a great learning experience so far.”