Head coach of the University of Pretoria, Maud Khumalo has confirmed that new acquisition Thalea Smidt – who signed until the end of the season from cross-town rivals, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies – will make her debut in the crucial clash against her other former team, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Saturday (22 April 2023) at Parrow Park in Cape Town.
Kick-off is at 15h00.
Smidt has been training with her new teammates for the past few weeks and arrives in time to feature against the wounded UWC who lost for the first time in 2023 this past weekend when they went down 2-1 to TS Galaxy Queens in Cape Town.
Khumalo is delighted that the midfielder is available after failing to unleash her in the 2-1 win over Coal City Wizards in their previous fixture due to logistical challenges.
Smidt was once on the books of UWC before relocating to Pretoria.
“She brings in positive energy and will add her experience to the players. I have coached her before, she played for Tuks before in the Sasol League, so she is not new to me but will be new to the young ones and they are happy to have her,” said a delighted Khumalo.
“The training sessions have been going so well and the combinations too, so going to UWC game is going to be a different ball game. We had challenges when it comes to our logistics so we couldn’t put her on the list so, but she will definitely be available for the game against UWC.”
Fear of missing out on the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July this year, seems to have prompted Smidt’s move from the Hollywoodbets Super League reigning champions to return to AmaTuks.
The Cape Town-born star saw little game time with the Brazilians which affected her place in the national team.
She was part of the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana squad that won the TotalEnergies CAF Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in July last year.
Smidt was called up for the subsequent national team training camps to face Brazil, Australia and also to play in the Turkish Cup.
But she missed on out on the crucial international friendly against Serbia recently (10 April 2023) as most national teams that have qualified for the World Cup start to wind down their preparations.
Smidt was on the books of Tuks Ladies and also captained the team before moving to Chloorkop in 2021.
“It feels good to be back. I’ve been here before so coming back wasn’t difficult for me. I know the culture of the club, I know the culture of the team, so it feels good. It’s been a good few weeks with the team, a good bunch of girls with great energy and yeah it feels lovely to be back and I have always said Tuks is home,” Smidt told the Tuks Ladies Media Team.
“I am hoping my addition to the team can yield positive results to the team. To be honest I joined the team hoping to add value in the team, to come and play and give my expertise to the team, obviously learning from the coach, the technical team, and the players. So, it’s just doing my best each and every opportunity that I get, just trying to be a positive impact wherever I can, trying to yield positive energy over onto the players as well and yeah just being a positive addition.”
She was also an influential member of the Sundowns Ladies side that won the inaugural TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League title when they defeated Ghanaian side Hasaacas Ladies FC 2-0 in the final in Egypt in 2021.
By Matlhomola Morake
