The coach who helped bring Appollis back into football
JOHANNESBURG — Before Oswin Appollis became an Orlando Pirates winger and a regular contributor for Bafana Bafana, his career stalled without a club. An opportunity at Pretoria Callies helped put the Bishop Lavis-born attacker back on the path to top-flight football.
Former Callies coach Kwanele Kopo has recalled the intervention that brought Appollis back into competitive football after his departure from SuperSport United. Kopo, who already knew the player from SuperSport’s development structures, believed his ability deserved another opportunity.
Speaking to Soccer Laduma, in comments reported by Africa Soccer, Kopo said Appollis was the first player he thought of when he became head coach at Callies. Discussions with the winger and his mother helped persuade him to return.
The move gave Appollis regular football in the second tier and a platform to rebuild his career. He scored six goals in 28 league appearances during the 2022/23 campaign before joining Polokwane City in 2023. At Rise and Shine, he established himself in the Premiership and earned his first senior national-team opportunities.
Appollis has previously acknowledged Kopo’s role in that recovery. In an interview published by iDiski Times, he expressed gratitude for the coach’s approach and the chance to learn from him on and off the field. His performances at Polokwane subsequently earned him a place in South Africa’s Africa Cup of Nations squad, which finished third in 2024.
Now 25, Appollis has progressed to Pirates while continuing to influence matches for Bafana. Kopo also credits Polokwane chairman Johnny Mogaladi for backing the winger at a crucial stage, giving him the exposure needed to demonstrate his quality in the top flight.
“He has only grown bigger and bigger, and I think he has shown his quality more,” Kopo told KickOff, according to GOAL’s account. The coach highlighted Appollis’s ability to score and create goals, pointing to his recent international performance against Eritrea as evidence of that development.
Appollis’s progression gives Pretoria Callies and Polokwane City a significant place in his story. The second-tier opportunity restored his route into competitive football, while regular Premiership appearances allowed him to establish the form that carried him into the national team and a move to Pirates.
For Kopo, the winger’s success is also a return on years spent identifying and developing young South African players. He said he was pleased to have contributed to Appollis’s progress and hoped more local talent would receive opportunities to follow a similar path.
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