Posted in News on May 12, 2006.
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Motaung was speaking prior to 'Ace' Ntsoelengoe's memorial service, held close to his home in the Mogale Municipality on Thursday.
When asked to sum up the football artistry and wizardry of his former teammate and friend said, “When I look back on the career of 'Ace' and when I see old videos and if I must make a comparison between 'Ace' and any other player in the world I would have to say that he reminded me a lot about former French national team and Juventus captain Michel Platini."
When further quizzed as to why he would draw a comparison between the former Kaizer Chiefs star and the former three times European Footballer of the year Kaizer added, "If you looked at the way Michel Platini played, he was always in the thick of the game and he never shied away from tackles. If he was not scoring goals he was helping others score."
The Chiefs MD was also impressed by Platini’s ability to read a game - a trait which Ace had as well. "Platini was a very intelligent player and Ace was the same.
They were able to think quickly and find the correct pass in a difficult situation. This made them even more dangerous."
The Amakhosi boss is also of the opinion that 'Ace' can be placed amongst that illustrious list of great footballers that were unfortunate never to represent their country on the world stage.
"After many years when we look back at the life of Ace and when people see all that he has achieved, they will really wonder why he never ever represented his country.
The truth is that the evil that was apartheid robbed the world of seeing probably one of South Africa’s greatest talents,” Motaung said.
Ace though is in illustrious company on the list of great players never to play in a world cup as he takes his place along side the late Northern Ireland star George Best and Welsh Wizard Ryan Giggs.
Adding to the list of unfortunate’s team is the Real Madrid Grand Master Alfredo Di Stefano who played internationally for three different countries (Argentina, Colombia and Spain) but never made it to the Fifa World Cup.
A minute silence will be observed to respect and honour all that 'Ace' achieved in his life as well as his contributions to Chiefs as a player and most recently as a coach of Amakhosi under fifteen team.
This will be observed prior to kick-off when Chiefs bring down the curtain on the 2005-2006 league against Super Sport United with their final league game of the season on Saturday afternoon at the FNB Stadium.