Teen kicks off dream future with high hopes

RIJUL Pillay, 18, of AmaZulu Football Club, is determined to achieve his ultimate dream of representing South Africa in the biggest tournaments in the world.

The Westville-born defender currently plies his trade with AmaZulu’s Reserve side in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge and is set on growing into a regular starter for his club and at international level.

Bafana Bafana look a rejuvenated and re-invented outfit under coach Hugo Broos with a large number of fresh faces sourced to awaken the hope towards “Vision 2022”, therefore the likes of Pillay have every reason to be hopeful.

“Playing for the national team has always been a dream of mine. I will always believe I can achieve that goal and I will always believe my time will come,” he said.

“It’s motivating to see young players playing, because it shows the quality the country possesses with the right mentality. I will be working harder than ever but I will stay patient as the call-up is out of my control. I will stay positive and strive for it.”

Pillay and others are currently battling through a rough period as they lie 13th on the log, 15 points behind log-leading Orlando Pirates.

But the former Glenwood High School pupil believes his side’s triumph of the DStv Diski Rewired gives them the hope needed to stage a miraculous climb up the Diski Challenge log.

“We didn’t have a great start to the season. We were playing very consistently and had good performances but the results were just not coming for us.

“We have all agreed, as teammates alongside the coaching staff since the beginning of the previous season, that we wanted to win the Diski Rewired, and this season we still believe we can move up the log and finish in a good position,” he added.

In the wake of the Player Transition Programme, Pillay will hope to merge his new venture in tertiary education with his push for a potential promotion to Benni McCarthy’s first team.

“With Coach McCarthy as head coach, it’s comforting to know that he believes in youngsters, and he believes that if you have that fight in you, then he will give you the chance.

“My goal is to play as much as possible and I start university this year, so I hope to keep the balance with academics and football, even though I will focus a lot on football.

“I also set a goal of becoming the fittest I can be, so since last year I’ve been going very strong and I’ve been very consistent with my diet, gym and field training,” he concluded.