Jomo intercepted my move to Bucs - ‘Taribo’
MBABANE – Former Mbabane Swallows Mfanafuthi ‘Taribo’ Bhembe is the only liSwati player to participate in the FA Cup in England, in this part two the column revealed that he was destined to join DStv Premiership side Orlando Pirates.
Bhembe, who played for Buxton Football Club in the United Kingdom, said the move to Pirates was intercepted by Jomo Cosmos owner Ephraim ‘Jomo’Sono. Enjoy your Sunday as the legendary striker takes you down memory lane.
TS – Welcome back to the Legends Corner once again Taribo for part two.
Taribo – It’s a pleasure for me to grace this great page again mfowethu.
TS – Ok mfowethu let us continue where we ended last week. You also had a stint with South Africa’s Jomo Cosmos, tell us about your move over there. How did ‘Bra J’ scout you?
Taribo - Jomo Cosmos was an opportunity for me to play in the South African top league. Jomo ‘Bra J’ Sono actually intercepted interest from Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows. Pirates were hot on my heels, especially after I scored two goals against them in the CAF Champions League return match at Kanyamazane Stadium, in South Africa.
TS – Jah continue bru.
Taribo - So ‘ Bra J’ kept tabs through Celani Shongwe. Shongwe made sure the move materialised. It eventually came to light when Sono came down to Eswatini to watch me play for Swallows in a league game and we met to sign a pre-contract at Lugogo Sun, I still remember it vividly ha ha ha.
TS - How was your stay with Cosmos and who were the senior players you found there?
Taribo – The stay there was great, even though play time was limited, but I enjoyed being in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), especially with fellow countrymen, Siza Dlamini, Mpendulo Baino Kunene and Felix Badenhorst. The senior players at Cosmos were Bamuza Sono, Lucky Mahlathi and ‘Tico Tico’ Bucuane to name a few.
TS - Oh, by the way, Cosmos had other Eswatini players. You also went to America for studies with the likes of Lwazi Maziya, Darren Christie, and the late Mlondi Mdluli as well as Sibusiso Macwele if my memory serves me right. How was varsity football in the States?
Taribo – Being in the USA was the best moment in my life; I got scouted playing University Games in South Africa by an Ethiopian Coach via a university teammate and friend Mosito Ranko. That’s how my move was orchestrated, the players you have mentioned I recruited them to join me at the university to make up a strong team.
TS – Really?
Taribo - Varsity football in America is at the top level, it’s a feeder to the Major League Soccer (MLS) and it’s every university soccer player’s dream to eventually make it out of university to the MLS. I was fortunate in my senior year in 2009 to be drafted into the MLS right after my graduation I was picked number 57 of 60 best players.
TS - In one of features we had Zidane, and he told us that you were monitored by one of the big clubs there. What hindered that move from seeing the light?
Taribo – Yes, it is true, I was drafted, selected into the MLS team, I was in their books and had to sort out Visa issues myself, which meant getting lawyers to also issue the USA green card that enables one to work over there. That process was expensive, so I decided to return home and try playing somewhere else in the world.
TS - Upon your return, you went back to Swallows, neh?
Taribo - Yes, I went back to Swallows and Jomo Somo recruited me as I had already mentioned earlier.
TS - Please take us through your national teams’ journey.
Taribo - I must say I am one of the players who went through all the national team from Under-17, where I got the Taribo name to Under-20, Under-23 and Sihlangu. It was a true honour to represent my country in all the national set-up.
TS – You were lucky indeed . Which defender gave you a nightmare and why?
Taribo - I think all defenders gave me a tough time; this is because most of them had bigger physiques than me. I had to avoid contact and use my speed, it was hard to play against those, who knew me for example Mlungisi ‘Madzala’ Ngubane a former teammate at Swallows and when I had to face him when he moved to Mbabane Highlanders, he knew how to deal with me. Otherwise, it was mostly all centre defenders that were hard to beat.
TS - Which game will always linger in your mind and why?
Taribo - So many games, but I will have to pick two. The first game was a derby game of course, we won that game 1-0 and I scored header. It was a tough game for us as Highlanders was on form that season. I was marked closely by Ndzingeko Dlamini another smart defender who gave me a tough time.
TS – Yeah, continue Mavundla.
Taribo - Towards the last minutes of the game at 0-0 I received a cross from the left wing and I dived in front of Ndzingeko to nod the ball into the roof of the net, a good flying header and to my surprise the linesman ruled it offside.
TS – Hawu!
Taribo – Jah! The goal was cancelled and just a minute after that action I repeated the same flying header in front of Ndzingeko and scored again. The goal stood and we won the match. That game will forever linger because of that goal to win the derby.
TS – Share with us the second match. Taribo – It was surely the CAF Champions League second leg tie against Orlando Pirates. What a match it was! I flew in from university on game day, arrived in Johannesburg at 10am, by 2:30pm I was at Kwa-Nyamazane where I met the team.
TS – Yeah!
Taribo – Surprisingly, I was in the starting line-up and I was tired from travelling from the USA. I had no soccer boots and borrowed a pair from Dennis Fakudze.
TS – Ha!
Taribo – Victor Gamedze and the entire Swallows family had faith in me, so much that they believed I could help the team come back from a 0-5 deficit we suffered at Somhlolo National Stadium. Their faith created so much confidence in me in such a way that I inspired the team and we drew 2-2 and I scored both goals.
TS – Iyooh!
Taribo – We could have won that game even by 3-0 as we played marvellous football with the likes of Darren ‘Dazza’ Christie. So those are the two games that would forever linger in my mind. The other one I almost forgot was when we knocked Swallows out of the charity Cup while I was with Manzini Wanderers, I scored a good header.
TS - After hanging your soccer boots you ventured into golf and teqball, share with us what made you to take that journey?
Taribo - I do not remember announcing that I have hanged my boots, that’s another story for
another day. Golf is a sport I grew up wanting to learn and play, with Tiger Woods dominating and being the only black golfer winning did inspire so many of us. My father also played golf and had old clubs at home, it was self-taught. I also took golf as an elective sport to study during my Sports Management Studies, so the love grew and I gave myself time to learn and play it, now I am a seasoned golfer. The best moment was to represent my country in golf in the C Division Category as I qualified in local tournaments.
TS – Continue mfowethu.
Taribo - Teqball is new, through the office of the CEO at the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, Sidney Simelane, I got the opportunity to champion the franchise, establish a federation and promote the sport. I became the founder and roped in colleagues to assist with the dream to develop the sport.
TS – What are your dreams in the sport? Taribo – My first dream was to create awareness and recruit athletes to play the sport, in four years we achieved more than we anticipated. I mean we are growing fast and we have already participated in continental and world championships. The ultimate dream is to see teqball become a sport that provides opportunity to everyone in the kingdom as it does not discriminate in age, gender or race.
TS - What can you say about the standard of the sport in the country now and back then.
Taribo - The standard of sport in the country is shamefully low; all the sporting codes are struggling to keep a consistent programme and to unearth great talent that can compete worldwide. There are so many factors involved, one key factor we can attribute to this is the lack of proper sports development plans, and we have talent but struggle to nurture and empower this talent at earlier stages.
TS - Who is your current best player in the league, and why?
Taribo - Thubelihle (Nsingizini) Tiger, Kwakhe and Gadlela (Swallows), ‘Pupu’ (Highlanders), ‘Sikhali’ (Green Mamba). Man, I have many best players all of them are in the current national team.
TS - Since you are now a sports journalist, what do you think is lacking in our football in terms of attracting supporters into stadiums and what can be done to lure them back?
Taribo - Let me start with the sport journalist clarity. I am not a journalist, never studied any journalism, I am a TV Sports producer, there is a difference there, I make sports films or programmes, I do not report about sports ha ha ha. To answer your question, the football producer which is the game has dropped and the players have changed, it’s the standard of play and the players involved who attract supporters to the stadiums. Our football and players lack consistency in delivering quality football, it’s happens rarely and that’s not a good advert to the sport. We used to be very consistent and supporters wanted to see goals all the time and good football even if there were no goals. These days, we need to rely on Marketing efforts to bring supporters to stadiums.
TS - Oh, before I let you go, what message can you give to youngsters who want to follow in your footsteps?
Taribo – All youngsters should develop passion from within first. It starts from knowing what you want to achieve or be in the future. They should follow their dreams and be open to help and advice, sport is an escape and feeds the soul let sport be just that and they will go places. Lastly, they should appreciate what sports do to them, thank the Almighty for their talent and use it fully.
TS – Thanks once again bra wami.
Taribo – It was my pleasure.
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