Tyson bets on partnership with Xulu to uplift SuperSport

SuperSport United skipper Thulani Hlatshwayo believes his central defensive partnership with Siyanda Xulu will develop into something special that could aid Matsatsantsa in their bid to be a force to be reckoned with.

Xulu, who's currently Bafana Bafana's vice-captain and first-option centre-back for coach Hugo Broos, joined SuperSport late last month after parting ways with Azerbaijani side Turan Tovuz. 

"Xulu is someone I know very well. We played together at Bafana and even at junior national teams. In football, solid defence always wins you trophies, so I hope we have that with Xulu's arrival. I am optimistic that I will forge a strong partnership with him as we aim to do well by challenging for titles again,'' Hlatshwayo told Sowetan.

"Tyson", as Hlatshwayo is nicknamed, sees Xulu also helping a great deal in mentoring the youngsters at the club.

"His (Xulu's) experience is crucial for the club, especially given the fact that we have so many youngsters who still need to be mentored. We also have a number of good defenders who can also step up, so that also keeps one on his toes everyday,'' Tyson said.

Ime Okon, 18, has started ahead of Xulu in the first few games of the season. The budding centre-half was also included in Bafana's provisional squad for next month's friendlies at home to Namibia and DR Congo.

SuperSport have been tipped by many as one of the teams who'll be among the contenders for the league title. Hlatshwayo believes they can, albeit he emphasised the importance of taking one game as it comes.

"We don't think too far ahead of ourselves but we really believe that we can really give it a good shot. The biggest mistake we can make is to ignore the strategy of taking it one game at a time,'' Hlatshwayo noted.

Matsatsantsa's next game is in the DStv Premiership away to Stellenbosch, the side that eliminated them from the MTN8 in the quarterfinals two weeks ago, on Saturday.