NFD’s ‘Messi’ just keeps on scoring

Baroka FC and National First Division (NFD) leading ­scorer Thabiso “Messi” Kutumela does not want to fall into the same trap as previous top scorers.

The only way to avoid this predicament, Kutumela ­believes, is to help his club get ahead in the rankings so he can continue playing for it in the elite league.

Most of the previous top scorers have faded into obscurity once recruited into the elite league (see below).

“Most former NFD top scorers are forgotten and I hope to go up [to the Absa Premiership] with Baroka and get regular game time,” said the 20-year-old, who is the NFD’s leading marksman, with nine goals from 10 games.

Kutumela attributes his red-hot form to a good working relationship with coach Kgoloko Thobejane.

“He has coached me for many years. I also enjoy playing behind [other] strikers ­because it gives me freedom in the park,” said Kutumela.

His goal-scoring exploits have placed the Limpopo-based side among the early pace-setters.

Bakgaga ba ga Mphahlele, as Baroka are known to their followers, face Milano United at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town this afternoon.

The Capetonians will host Baroka ­following two back-to-back wins over
AmaZulu and Vasco Da Gama.

Baroka shook off their first loss of the season to Witbank Spurs two weeks ago with a 6-0 demolition of African ­Warriors last weekend.

Thobejane and his technical staff will again look to ­Kutumela to score. The player joined on the recommendation of the club’s owner, Khurishi Mphahlele, in 2011.

Said Thobejane of his charge: “This boy converts even the slightest chance and we are happy that he is living up to his potential. He is blessed with massive talent – that’s why we call him Messi [after Barcelona star striker Lionel Messi]. When the club boss spotted him playing in the ­Vodacom League for Boyne Tigers FC in 2011, he saw ­something special in him.”

Messi’s tally accounts for Baroka’s total of 23, making them the highest-scoring side in the NFD.

By comparison, these statistics dwarf those of the ­lucrative Premiership. The premier division’s leading ­scorer, Collins Mbesuma of Mpumalanga Black Aces, has five goals, while his club and Kaizer Chiefs are the league’s top-scoring sides, with a joint 16 goals.