Is This Africa's Next Star?

Luther singh has impressed at junior level and is playing club football in Europe. His country hopes he will become the goal machine it desperately needs.

- Nick Said

South African youngster Luther Singh is blazing a trail in Europe with Portuguese side Sporting Braga and has become the latest new hope for Bafana Bafana.

The versatile 20-year-old won Player of the Tournament and the top-goal scorer prize at both the regional 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships and continental African Youth Championships, leading to a first cap for the senior national team in March.

He followed that up with some strong showings at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in South Korea, in May, and even though he did not get on the scoresheet, there was much to admire in his play, which is all about pace, skill and confidence.

The first thing that catches the eye with Singh though is his name, as Indian players have been rare at the top level in South Africa.

“My grandfather is of Indian descent, but I was born and raised in Noordgesig in Soweto,” Singh tells FORBES AFRICA.

“I come from a football family in that my father, uncles and cousins all played the game, but at a semi-pro or amateur level. I am the first to make it to the professional ranks.”

Singh was earmarked for a career in the professional game at the age of 11 when he was scouted by Farouk Khan, one of the top development coaches in the country who runs the successful Stars of Africa academy in Brixton, Johannesburg.

He was playing for junior side Nazarene FC and immediately after the game, Khan approached his parents to see if they would allow him to join the academy, where players live and are schooled.

“We don’t usually take players that young in the academy, but in Luther we could see immediately that there was something else – he is the complete package,” says Khan.

“He is a wonderful player. Aside from his technical skills, he can use both feet, and is strong and quick. He is a player that has all the attributes the modern game demands.”