GOING FOR GOAL(D)
As she heads for Banyana, Regirl Ngobeni joins a spate of UWC football stars before her By Buntu Gotywa | Photography: Skhu Nkomphela
A
lmost all young lads who love football dream of being the ones banging in the goals for their teams as the outfield players seemingly — particularly attackers — get more recognition on the pitch. In fact, some of the best keepers in the game started their football journeys as outfield players before converting to the goalposts. Our very own Itumeleng Khune is said to have started as a striker before going on to establish himself as one of the best goalkeepers to ever come out of South Africa. And 25-year-old shotstopper, Regirl Ngobeni, is no exception as she preferred the upfront and wing positions when she first began playing football. The Bachelor of Education student could have been lost to the beautiful game had she not been converted by her former coach Julius Mandlazi to goalkeeping duties during her time with Seven Stars after the club goalie left. She was totally against the idea of keeping goal that it took the intervention of her mother to let her know that the coach knows best. Clearly, Mandlazi knew what he was doing as Ngobeni was recently selected to the Banyana Banyana squad set to face the Netherlands in early August.
26
