‘Maasai’ out to tower over Chiefs
HIS teammates call him the Kenyan Maasai, but Acornbush United’s central defender Sinemce Mashaba doesn’t mind.
He grew up being called exactly that from a very young age. And that’s because the way he leaps up into the air is incredible, invariably winning every single ball. Time and again the tall, towering structure that is Mashaba lands back safely on his feet each time he goes up to contend for the ball.
In the field of play, Mashaba is in his natural habitat. He plays in the heart of defence. There, in a central defensive role, he causes panic in the opposition’s attacking third, winning pretty much every ball in one-on-one situations.
His goalkeeper rarely shouts out instructions when he’s in the field of play. Maasai’s the one who does all the talking, marshalling his line whenever he wants them to move up, or telling them to drop back, whenever he feels it is appropriate. When Mashaba is on the pitch, these four are in sync.
He demonstrated all of these qualities when his coach, McDonald Makhubedu, decided to play him in two friendly matches following their training session at Kanyamazane Stadium mid-week.
The ABC Motsepe League side were preparing for their tomorrow’s Nedbank Cup last 16 against Kaizer Chiefs, at Kabokweni Stadium (kick-off 3pm).
Not once did Mashaba show any signs of fatigue. “Now that’s a good player,” Makhubedu said pointing from the sidelines at Mashaba, who had just dismantled the opposition’s attacking move with a simple interception inside the 18-yard box, turning it into a counter attacking move.
“He joined us at the beginning of this year, during the transfer window period. I can’t believe that this kid was playing in the Castle League (now called the SAB League) this past season. He’s incredible.”
Then up front, where Mashaba had served a superb pass to help his side push forward with a quick counter, their striker, Velile Mdaka, otherwise known as Bebeto, stood head and shoulders above their El Shaddai FC counterparts from the SAB League, as he banged in a hat trick to announce his return to the starting line-up.
Leading up to this friendly encounter, Mdaka had suffered two consecutive injuries (hamstring and knee) which saw him being out of the game for the good part of their second round of fixtures in their league race.
In this friendly, in which they obliterated their opponents 9-0, Mdaka approached the clash with a performer’s mindset, going to audition for a role he so desperately wanted in a play.
On the sidelines his coaches set down and deliberated. They were waiting for the climax of his performance before they could give a final verdict.
It was right after he had scored his third and final goal of the afternoon that Makhubedu, who was sitting on in the dugout next to his two assistants, said: “He’s ready.” His goalkeeper coach, Siphamandla Mathaba, concurred: “The boy’s hungry. He wants to play,”
Reason Chiloane, sitting on the far end of the dugout, nodded. They were all in agreement.