For the love of his club
Issa Sarr on his love for Orlando Pirates
KICK OFF: It has been two years since you arrived at Orlando Pirates, time really flies …
ISSA SARR: It does fly! The thing I have noticed most about myself during my time at Pirates is growth. I haven’t won all the trophies I had planned, but I remain happy with the progress I have made. At least we have been to cup finals like the CAF Confederation Cup, which is positive. Personally, my time at Pirates has been great – I have been called up to the national team several times which is good considering the country I come from [Senegal]. All in all it has been positive progress during these two years. Explain more about how you have grown ... Playing with the big players like Lucky [Lekgwathi], Rooi [Mahamutsa], Oupa [Manyisa] and others who are vastly experienced in this League means you can achieve things. I have become more target- orientated, and I have bigger ambitions because my hunger for success has grown. At Pirates your adrenalin pump-rate is higher; you feel the desire to win, things flow in your blood so much that you are always fighting, dreaming and working towards winning trophies.
When you joined Pirates you said that when your contract expires after three years you want to have won all available trophies. Do you think that is still achievable?
Winning two trophies [MTN8 and Telkom Knockout] with Platinum Stars during the year I spent there was the reason I became so success-driven. Stars are a smaller club compared to Pirates, so I feel if I won there then I have every reason to believe I can win more at Pirates. I haven’t stopped working towards that dream. I still have a year left and I have already won the Nedbank Cup, so I think it is still possible, and I believe it in the same way the team does.
You have had a lot of game-time for Pirates, which must keep you motivated …
I am a competitor by nature and I don’t like to be down. But every player will have good and bad times on the field, so I am always fighting to have a lot more good times, though I am aware that I will have bad days at the office – I am human after all. I mean, if the biggest players can have bad times, then so can I. But I am always fighting for a bigger slice of the good times.
The team struggled this past season, but you kept on fighting, and even contributed with goals along the way …
It is not only in football, I am naturally like that. I always want to give my best because I want to deserve my salary. Everything the team gives me I must work for; I must show them that I am able to give back even more than they
WHENEVER I PLAY I DO SO WITH MY HEART BECAUSE I LOVE THIS TEAM
give me. Whenever I play I do so with my heart because I love this team. I like to take responsibility even when the team is not doing well. I believe we should win together and lose together. I know that my hunger sometimes leads to mistakes, but it is all out of my desire to help the
team. I will rather fail knowing I gave my all than go down knowing very well that I didn’t put in enough effort.
How much did the absence of Oupa Manyisa – both as a player and captain – affected the team?
A lot of things affect a team’s mind, for example, if you saw the psychological effect that Senzo Meyiwa’s death had, how his passing stuck in our minds and how we struggled and everyone was down. Then the next season we lost Oupa due to injury, and he was someone that nobody ever imagined would be out of the team, which meant nobody ever thought of who would take his place. The team was basically operating around him, so when he was not there anymore it also became a psychological blow for the players and the coach. It took a while to fix that gap and that is why we had problems the way we did. Having Oupa in midfield makes it so easy to play because all you need to do is win the ball and give it to him … you just mark for him and provide balance and cover. But I am sure you have seen Mpho [Makola] also slowly coming to take that role now. He is now doing what Oupa was doing and since he came into that position he has helped us a lot there.
The captain’s armband caused some issues last season, and in the end it was worn by several players including Thabo Matlaba, Lehologonolo Masalesa, Siyabonga Sangweni, Rooi Mahamutsa, Happy Jele, Thamsanqa Gabuza, Ayanda Gcaba, Kermit Erasmus and even you…
At every big club when they go through a hard time a lot of noise is made about it. The armband is about respect. If Happy gives me the armband, then I look around for who is more senior than me in the team. I am never one to look for personal glory and will rather hand that armband to Thabo or Rooi. I can only take the armband when other senior players are not playing.
How have you dealt with the demands that come with playing for Pirates? Expectations are always high …
When you play for a small team you can have a bad game and no-one will talk about it or care, but at Pirates the pressure is high and you have to take it in a positive way. The expectation is that every player must give 100 percent, even though you will have your good and bad matches. When you are going through that bad phase it becomes really tough and that is when you need to have a big heart if you want to play for Pirates. You should be able to fight to come back, fix things and become the player that they expect you to be.
Why did Pirates struggle in the League last season?
As players we have to admit that we failed, but there are a lot of things that explain this. We missed key players, and the coach had to call on guys on the bench to lift the team. And though everyone at Pirates is quality, not all players can get regular game-time, so getting players into form is a challenge. Fatigue and focus were also a factor – we were all focusing on the CAF Confederation Cup Final, and when we lost the spirit of the team came down. After that we played badly and lost so many games.
Do you agree that with the quality of the Pirates squad you should have done far better than you did?
Of course! At Pirates the coach will always have headaches about putting together a starting XI because of the quality, so yes we should have done better.
Eric Tinkler came under fire from fans. What are your thoughts on that?
The nature of the coaching job is that when the team does well it’s credit to the
players, and when it’s tough the problem is the coach. But luckily former coach Tinkler had a strong mentality, which is why we tried to lift our game to win. As players we must never give the fans reasons to blame anyone in the team.
Is the Pirates squad united enough to come out of this situation next season and challenge for titles?
Next season we will not be in the group stages [of CAF competition] when the season starts, so we should be in a better space. We will have a lot of space, time and fresh players next season. No South African team can have more ambition than Pirates, and I know that the chairman will do everything to build a better team for next season.
You mentioned earlier about getting more national team call-ups …
I am always in contact with the coach [Aliou Cisse], who told me some time ago: ‘You are playing for a small team at Chippa United or Platinum Stars, nobody knows about those teams. You need to play for a big team or leave South Africa and go overseas’. When I joined Pirates I knew that I am not only looking for trophies, but call-ups to the national team as well. So when we [Pirates] played in Africa, Cisse said I deserve to come into the national team.
You are 30 this year – what do you plan after your time at Pirates?
You know our careers roll out differently. People can talk about age, but I don’t feel like I am 30 when I play. I have a lot of energy and I feel I am yet to give my best. For now everything is up to Orlando Pirates because I still have a contract with them for another year. I know that other teams wanted me, but I refused because I still have goals that I want to achieve with Pirates. The chairman is like my father and he will have to decide.
How settled are you in Johannesburg?
I feel like I am actually at home; I feel so welcomed. I feel like I am part of the family because I am treated like a son by the chairman – this is why in my heart I didn’t want to leave when other teams came looking for me.
Lastly, how does it feel to have a personal sponsorship from Umbro?
It is wonderful because when I came to South Africa I always had to buy my own boots. Other brands were not interested despite the fact that I was playing regularly at Pirates. Umbro has been great to me and I am very comfortable with their boots.