Jeremiah Nkwana could justly be called “The “Punisher” of student football in South Africa.
Good advice for teams playing against UP-Tuks in the Varsity Football Tournament will be to refrain from committing a foul outside of their penalty area because if the referee awards a free kick there will be trouble. Or to be more direct. Nkwana will dish out the punishment.
The final year BA Sports Science student has built quite a reputation for himself of rarely failing to score when taking a free kick over the last four years. His sharp shooter left foot helped UP-Tuks win the Varsity Tournament in 2014. He, in fact, scored the winning goal from a free kick in the final against the University of Johannesburg. The following year he was the Varsity Tournament’s top goal scorer. Scoring five goals in eight games.
He also made an impact internationally. Playing for the University South Africa Students Team during the 2015 World Student Games in South Korea he was the team’s top goal scorer. He will again represent the South African student's team at next month’s University World Student Games in Taipei.
During the recent USSAFootball Tournament Nkwana scored more than missing when taking free kicks. He finished the tournament with five goals to his name.
Tlisane Motaung (UP-Tuks Coach) does not hesitate to say that Nkwana is gifted.
“”Jerry has got a very intelligent left foot. He proved he knows where the back of the goal net is.”
Fans who have seen Nkwana in action are amazed about how he makes a free kick count. One even remarked it seems as if he does not even look at the ball he just visualises what he is going to do and then boom it’s a goal.
“Pure football magic,” was a remark heard after Nkwana outwitted a goalkeeper for the umpteenth time.
According to Nkwana, there is no secret to his success.
“I do take time off to train executing free kicks to perfection. There is truth in the saying practice makes perfect. One of the things I have learnt from taking free kicks is once you decide which corner of the goal net you are aiming for you need to stick to it. Don’t change because a mere moment of hesitation could mean failure.”
UP-Tuks’s first game tomorrow (27/07) in the Varsity Football Tournament against TUT has the makings to be a real humdinger. The same two teams contested the final of the USSAFootball-final. TUT won after a penalty shoot-out, but that was just one “battle”. The war to the bragging rights of being the best university football-side is far from won.
Beating TUT is just one battle the Tuks team needs to win.
Nkwana is quietly confident that he and his teammates have the abilities to change the outcome of the game this time round.
“I don’t think we need to change the way we played against TUT. We were just unlucky in the final. I am a firm believer that to be successful in sport you need to create your luck and we can. What makes us a good team is a unity we have in wanting to be the best. We are prepared to ‘fight’ to the end to do so.”
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