Lekoelea follows in dad's steps

ROBOSHANE Lekoelea is following in the footsteps of his father, the once industrious midfielder Steve Lekoelea.

Roboshane has impressed Orlando Pirates development technical director Augusto Palacios, who is now a big fan of the 13-year-old boy.

Lekoelea described Roboshane "as a youngster with rare talent".

"He is an excellent passer of the ball, and at the age of 13 I could not spill those educated passes myself. The boy has surprised me with the knowledge of the game.

"Last week I told Njenje (Palacios) about the boy, and he asked me to bring him along. There were other boys on trial, so Njenje asked me not to introduce the boy.

"He just went into the ground with other boys to be assessed, and a few minutes later Njenje came back to me with the boy, saying he was highly impressed."

Palacios said: "I was very impressed with his first touch and the way he is comfortable on the ball, his ball control reminds me of his father."

Roboshane is doing Grade 5 at Tshidiso Primary School in Sebokeng, where his father also studied.