It was a joyous occasion at the club’s headquarters, Naturena on Saturday, 15th

November 2003 as Kaizer Chiefs paid special tribute to the club’s Under-15

Development side that participated in the finals of the prestigious International Milk

Cup, held in Northern Ireland in July 2003.

During the tournament, the young Amakhosi won most of their games and reached the

finals of the prestigious tournament only to lose 2-3 to Macca Haifa of Israel after

having led 2-1 for sometime.

In the tournament the boys had played and beaten some of the best teams in the world

including Charlton Athletics (semifinals), Birmingham and playing a draw with County

Tyrone. By the end of the tournament the side had won the hearts of local football

admirers, club officials and talent scouts, some of whom are still chasing signatures of

the side’s key players.

If world club tournaments are anything to go by in terms of development, then the

Phefeni boys were spot on to send their U-15 side to participate in the tournament.

"It was indeed a worthy experience for both the players and technical staff. At

that age level for our boys to have done so well and lose only in the finals was indeed an

honor, mostly because our African Flair approach to global football was an amazing

revelation to other teams and talent scouts.

"We learnt a couple of things there, including their high level sense of

professionalism in project management, their organizational skills and capabilities, and

also our boys easy adaptation to strange weather conditions," said Assistant Head of

Delegation and Education Officer, of the Kaizer Chiefs Development Academy, Bongani

Mngadi.

"I noted with keenness the team building exercise which this trip provided to all

the boys and the management delegates, because everyone was just close to each

other," added Mngadi, who is also school principal at Thobeka Primary School in zone

6, Meadowlands, Soweto.

Receiving

their silver medals in the presence of their parents, the boys were ecstatic and their

coach Ntsie Maphike, a former defender with the Amakhosi team of the 80’s and

90’s was over the moon with the strength his players showed.

"My coaching concept at the tournament was mainly to showcase the Kaizer Chiefs

culture and passion as reflected in the club’s motto 'Love and Peace' and that was

done with aplomb. Congratulations to all my young future stars. They showed character and

strong will to win.

"Finally, thanks to the club management and the parents of the boys for allowing

us to participate in the Milk Cup and test our strength against some of the best in the

world. Thanks for the support and having club director Mr. Hamid Muhammid on the trip with

us was a blessing. We did it for Africa and our beautiful country South Africa," said

an elated Maphike.

As the boys waited for their names to be called for the awards, captain Michael

"Skapie" Nkambule kept joking with his teammates and officials about the trip

and the recent games the club’s u-15 played in Johannesburg since their return,

particularly the curtain raiser they played in front of the FIFA delegates and 2010 WC

Officials, when they defeated their Supersport counterparts 2-1 at the Ellis park stadium

recently.

"On behalf of all the players I thank Mr. Kaizer Motaung and the management for

this lifetime opportunity.

"The improvement of our soccer is about opportunities and without this opportunity

we would not be here today and our game would still be miles behind world standards. A big

thanks goes to our parents for giving us the liberty to develop our God given

talents," said Michael Nkambule captain of the side.

The rest of the other players are: Anthony Sighn, Tlela Ngubeni, Tammon Vd Westhuizen,

Ronald Maila, Sanana Lebotse, Dalano Hendricks, Mondli Miya, Musa Mthembu, Mlungisi

Mbonambi, Simo Khanyile, Nkanyiso Zuke, Kabelo Makakotsoe, Timothy Nkosi, Walter Nkosi,

Happy Zikhali, Mandla Khoza and Dingaan Sithole.