SuperSport United defender Luke Fleurs has credited SA U-23 coach David Notoane for his meteoric rise in the DStv Premiership this season.
The 21-year-old has emerged as one of the most promising defenders of this campaign after joining SuperSport from Ubuntu in 2018.
The center-back slotted in the Matsatsantsa a Pitori back-four this season under coach Kaitano Tembo.
He believes his meteoric rise came after he was drafted into the U-23 national team for Notoane’s Tokyo Olympic squad last year.
“I think when David Notoane decided to call me to the U-23 camp I think that gave me a lot of confidence,” Fleurs told Sowetan yesterday.
“There were a lot of players I used to watch while I was on the bench and they were playing in the DStv Premiership while I was in the GladAfrica Championship [for Ubuntu].
“I think that gave me a big boost and my confidence grew. When I went to the Olympics that confidence I got there helped me a lot playing at the highest level against the best players in the world.
“I will want to thank Notoane for calling me to the U-23 because it changed everything.”
Since then, the defender was also called to Bafana Bafana squad for the Fifa World Cup qualifiers last year and said he is not surprised by his success so far.
“From U-23 everything went my way and I came back and played a couple of good games for SuperSport,” he said.
“People were telling me I will play for Bafana and that’s where I was selected and it was a dream come true and hopefully I will make my debut soon.
“I would not say I was surprised because I believe in my style of play and myself.”
Despite the impressive season he is having with SuperSport where he featured 11 times in all competitions, Fleurs has vowed to continue working hard to improve.
“I want to improve, I want to get better. I’m not satisfied with where I am and I want to get better and play for Bafana soon.
“You know we started well to be in the top three and there was a match where I got a red card [against Royal AM] and we lost the game.
“So that killed our momentum because we had our good run before, the back four was solid, so was the midfield and our attack force.
“People then got injured, Covid-19 also hit us and a lot of things disrupted our momentum and hopefully now in the second half of the season we can bounce back and move up the table.”
Fleurs attributes his great form to playing in SA U-23 squad
Defender credits Notoane for his rise
Image: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
SuperSport United defender Luke Fleurs has credited SA U-23 coach David Notoane for his meteoric rise in the DStv Premiership this season.
The 21-year-old has emerged as one of the most promising defenders of this campaign after joining SuperSport from Ubuntu in 2018.
The center-back slotted in the Matsatsantsa a Pitori back-four this season under coach Kaitano Tembo.
He believes his meteoric rise came after he was drafted into the U-23 national team for Notoane’s Tokyo Olympic squad last year.
“I think when David Notoane decided to call me to the U-23 camp I think that gave me a lot of confidence,” Fleurs told Sowetan yesterday.
“There were a lot of players I used to watch while I was on the bench and they were playing in the DStv Premiership while I was in the GladAfrica Championship [for Ubuntu].
“I think that gave me a big boost and my confidence grew. When I went to the Olympics that confidence I got there helped me a lot playing at the highest level against the best players in the world.
“I will want to thank Notoane for calling me to the U-23 because it changed everything.”
Since then, the defender was also called to Bafana Bafana squad for the Fifa World Cup qualifiers last year and said he is not surprised by his success so far.
“From U-23 everything went my way and I came back and played a couple of good games for SuperSport,” he said.
“People were telling me I will play for Bafana and that’s where I was selected and it was a dream come true and hopefully I will make my debut soon.
“I would not say I was surprised because I believe in my style of play and myself.”
Despite the impressive season he is having with SuperSport where he featured 11 times in all competitions, Fleurs has vowed to continue working hard to improve.
“I want to improve, I want to get better. I’m not satisfied with where I am and I want to get better and play for Bafana soon.
“You know we started well to be in the top three and there was a match where I got a red card [against Royal AM] and we lost the game.
“So that killed our momentum because we had our good run before, the back four was solid, so was the midfield and our attack force.
“People then got injured, Covid-19 also hit us and a lot of things disrupted our momentum and hopefully now in the second half of the season we can bounce back and move up the table.”
Galaxy-Pirates drama under PSL prosecutor Majavu's consideration
Bongokuhle Hlongwane signs for US Major League team
Swallows tight-lipped about Mere's status at the club
Baroka goalkeeper says ‘don’t give up when you are down’
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos