Orlando Pirate Tlou Segolela scored THIS wonder goal in 2011 (video) but he still can't go to the UK

TLOU "SOX" SEGOLELA is the man of the moment. The all-conquering two-goal Bafana hero against Lesotho on Sunday, despite the wind, the mountains and the plastic pitch. And then we have the "Maradona" goal from "South Africa's Usain Bolt" against Free State Stars in 2011 - plus a few othes featured in the videos I've posted above and below.

Used mostly as an "impact" substitute by Orlando Pirates coaches since his move to the Buccaneers in 2007 (he also went on loan to Bloemfontein Celtic in 2009) there was talk earlier this month of a move to Soweto rivals with some debate over the two-year contract he signed last year NOT being extended to the end of June 2014.

But with those two goals in Maseru on Sunday - the first a tap-in, the second a lovely turn-and-fire - the high-speed "Gautrain" has suddenly become a valuable property with those live images on SuperSport and the SABC making him the man of the moment.

But there is a limit to footballing hype. I don't deny Segolela certainly deserves a water-tight deal for next season, something technical director Screamer Tshabalala and holidaying coach Roger De Sa should chat to chairman Irvin Khoza about URGENTLY.

Failing that, a move to double-winning Chiefs would certainly bolster the 25-year-old Limpopan (?) in his bid for a regular PSL starting place after playing just 45 games for Pirates in five seasons.

But his agent Tim Sukuzi is aiming perhaps a little too high after the Bafana brace. Yesterday he was on Radio 2000 insisting he had "an invitation from a big Championship club in England" in front of him.

Sukuzi, not inexperienced in player management, said: "Yes, Tlou has got options but we are only talking to overseas clubs, and I can confirm that he has been invited for trials with a Championship club in England. I can’t tell you which one."

Sukazi went as far as to dismiss the mighty AmaKhosi, adding: “He is not joining Chiefs. As I said, we are not dealing with the local clubs. I know that a few PSL clubs are interested, but we are looking to get him overseas. That is the priority.”

Within minutes of his appearance on radio, my phone was ringing red hot. No, it wasn’t Barcelona and Bayern Munich on the line wanting a ticket to the “Gautrain”, this was the insistent ring of South Africa football experts asking: “Is he serious?”

And of course, Tim, you can’t be. In order to gain work permit in the United Kingdom, professional footballers have to play 75 percent of their nation’s FIFA qualifying games over the last two years. And that team has to be in FIFA's top 70 (on average) throughout that period (preceding the date of the transfer).

That isn’t the Football Association’s restriction, it’s a device put in place by the Home Office to give local players a better chance of emerging from the bulging academies around the island. The other European nations have no such limits in place.

Segolela – who made his fifth international appearance against Lesotho - has only just returned to the Bafana fold, and had yet to feature in Gordon Igesund’s plans before this month. And Maseru was just a friendly. It doesn’t count. Without a single African Cup of Nations or World Cup chance so far, Segolela has a long way to go to reach the Home Office standard.

I'm afraid 24 months is a lifetime in football.

Sukazi insisted on Radio2000 his player could get “special dispensation” to gain a work permit but that hasn’t happened for three years. The last player to go to England without having played the stipulated 75 percent over two years (sitting on the bench doesn’t count, you have to come on) was a certain Little Pea.

Mexico’s Javier Hernandez was allowed to go to Manchester United after just five games for his nation – but he was still a teenager and starred in the World Cup in South Africa. Before that, players like Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini at Arsenal were allowed to join Arsenal academies only because they were under sixteen.

Segolela will get no special dispensation. To suggest he might is unfair to both the player and to South Africa fans.

Even players who DO fit the criteria in recent years – like Andile Jali, Teko Modise, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Itumeleng Khune – have shown far more consistent quality and failed to make it beyond trials or tabloid gossip.

The truth is, Segolela WAS impressive against Lesotho. He does deserve to have his questionable final year at Pirates confirmed – or he should be allowed to leave on a free for a rival club.

But to suggest, on the basis of two goals against the side ranked 155 in the world, that he is now destined for international stardom is simply laughable.

Segolela can make a start against the Central African Republic in Cameroon on Saturday - and a week later against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa if Igesund picks him for the do-or-die World Cup qualifiers.

But surely, the wise thing is to find him a starting role in the PSL before reaching for pie on the Sky channels?

Collins Mbesuma: The former Chief who saved Pirates when they needed it most

Double trouble: Collins Mbesuma has scored twice, twice

“It’s not going to be easy because Orlando Pirates have good strikers. But I will do my best.”

Those were the words uttered by Collins Mbesuma when he signed on the dotted line for Dr Irvin Khoza on August 15, 2012, a full seven years after leaving the employ of the Iron Duke’s arch-rival Kaizer Motaung.

A quick refresher course: way back in 2004/2005 Mbesuma – then barely out of his teens - scored a record 39 goals in all competitions to help Ted Dumitru’s Amakhosi pip the Bucs to the PSL title. The lad from Luanshya was hailed as the next big thing to come out of Africa.

But the European dream didn’t quite work out. Mbesuma, though wanted by Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers, chose a notoriously dodgy transfer to Portsmouth, where he played just four games before things fell apart at Fratton Park.

That was followed by a loan move to Portugal’s Maritimo and an unhappy spell with Bursaspor in Turkey, where his time-keeping was called in to question amid a welter of suspensions.

Mbesuma returned to South Africa in 2008 and tried his hand with Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows before finding his feet again at Golden Arrows in Lamontville, where he played 43 games and scored 18 goals to attract the attention of Dr Khoza and his man with the cheque book, Screamer Tshabalala.

Nobody expected much from the experienced feet (and head) of the 28-year-old Zambian, who played only a minor role in his nation’s historic African Cup of Nations triumph last year.

Mbesuma’s best days were behind him, we were told. And they came in the gold-an-black half of Soweto. In that emotional Zambian AFCON triumph last year, Mbesuma played a total of 42 minutes, he was written off as past it and lacking commitment.

He arrived at Pirates as Augusto Palacios’s final signing, saying: “I will just have to prove myself. I want to be successful with Pirates and win things with them. I think I need competition and I know Pirates is a big team so I just want to compete.”

Compete? He’s done more than that. A lot more. With Tokelo Rantie inexplicably allowed to slip away and Takesure Chinayama and Benni McCarthy injured, Mbesuma has proved the unlikely saviour for the new Bucs coaching duo of Roger de Sa and Eric Tinkler.

When they needed inspiration while trailing promoted upstarts AmaTuks 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld a fortnight ago, it was Mbesuma who provided the goals either side of Andile Jali’s penalty to seal a much-needed 3-1 PSL victory against the unbeaten students.

And when they came up against lively Leopards in the Telkom Knock-out on Saturday, there he was again, striking both goals in a 2-0 triumph which left most people raving about the form of Lehlogonolo “Vieira” Masalesa and Sifiso Myeni, both De Sa products from his Clever Boys days.

Yes, De Sa can claim some credit for his former Witsies, but without Mbesuma’s goals, where exactly would Pirates be right now?

With last season’s top-scorer McCarthy approaching fitness and Chinyama also due to return, De Sa has only praise for Mbesuma’s unexpected revival: "I have never doubted Mbesuma's scoring abilities. We are working on improving his fitness and he is making progress. He is showing a lot of commitment and has been doing a lot of work after training."

Mbesuma bubbles: “I must thank Irvin Khoza for giving me a chance to play for Pirates when most of the experts were doubting my ability.

“I feel I have regained my old confidence and I am playing alongside players who can make my job easier, it makes me proud to play for Pirates.”

Question is: with Mbesuma scoring four goals in two games – and another in a friendly during the international break – will there be room anybody else against AmaZulu on Sunday?

A shortened version of this story appeared as my Neal & Pray column in The New Age newspaper today. See www.thenewage.co.za every Tuesday...