Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Lucas Ribeiro Costa has admitted that he’s in awe that South Africa possesses such high-quality players but equally surprised they are not plying their trade overseas.
Ribeiro joined Masandawana in July 2023 from Belgian outfit SK Beveren and had a dream debut season for the Chloorkop outfit possessing impressive stats with 25 goal contributions (13 goals & nine assists) in 37 outings across all competitions.
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The 26-year-old also aided his charges defend their Betway Premiership crown and won the inaugural African Football League.
In his interview with the media, Ribeiro revealed that since he arrived in the country, quality is one thing the South African league has even in lower leagues.
“First of all, it was actually a surprise to see players of high quality still playing in the league [PSL],” Ribeiro told the media via his translator.
“Probably would’ve been anticipated such quality would be playing in Europe already because there are many players that he has seen in the squad and probably other teams in the league that were possessing of high qualities.
“And he was surprised that they were also not actually playing at the high level than the PSL.
“That’s one thing he noticed that upon arriving that the team and the league has high qualities for example Ronza [Ronwen Williams]. Ronza with the qualities he has, he somehow felt sad for him at the Ballon D’or that he’s not probably in Europe at the top teams.
“Because it means by him winning means he opens more doors for South African players to tap into that space if one or two of the quality players they go into that level.
“That’s one thing that he observed when he came to the country with the quality of the players.