I can’t fire myself

“Why do you want me to talk about it and be your spokesperson?”

“I was fortunate to see Maradona, Messi, but Pele was the greatest.”

Sipho Kekana: Bra J, thank you for allowing us time to speak to you. Jomo Cosmos has had somewhat of a good campaign so far. Do you think this could be that season you make your return to the DStv Premiership?

Jomo Sono: You’re welcome, Sipho. Look, we have been out of the PSL (topflight) for three years and, you know, unfortunately, football is football. In football, things can change within a minute. We are not going to try and put ourselves under a lot of pressure. All we want to do is to be able to compete like all the other teams. All 16 teams are competing for one thing and that is to win promotion and we are part of that 16. We cannot really say at this point in time that we will go back to the PSL. It’s just that we started well. If you look at the other years, we would not start well but end up good, you know. So, this year, it’s vice versa. We started well and so, we can only compete and hope that we will finish as well. We don’t know where it will take us because there is 16 very, very good teams in the GladAfrica (Championship)… very good teams. So, we just want to compete.

SK: But in percentages, how much chance of getting back into the elite league do you think you stand?

JS: It’s 50/50. For now, it’s 50% because we are just finishing the first round and number one is leading us with eight points, which is very good.

SK: Does it bother you, Bra J, that Cosmos, with so much history, led by one of the best players to come out of this country, is known for being in and out of the country’s top division?

JS: Well, everything happens for a reason. As long as Cosmos is in the league, I’m okay. GladAfrica (Championship) or Premier League is fine, as long as we don’t go to the (ABC) Motsepe League.

SK: What is the main objective? Is it just that … to be in the GladAfrica Championship and the DStv Premiership and that’s it?

JS: Sipho, you know, as a coach, I have won many trophies. I don’t think you are aware.

SK: Of course. That is well-documented and this question stems from you saying as long as you are there, you are okay.

JS: No, we want to win trophies, but unfortunately, we have been hamstrung by the issue of sponsorships. You cannot compete here when you don’t have money. Who is number one in the league?

SK: Mamelodi Sundowns!

JS: Yes, and why? They can buy anybody. If you look at the league, all the teams that have got financial backing are up there competing. All (over) the world, it is like that. You know, look at PSG – they can buy anybody. Hmmm, like Bayern Munich in Germany – they can buy any German top player. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow Bayern Munich would buy Haaland (Erling), the Borussia Dortmund player. They can buy Haaland, you know. Sometimes it’s about money. So, what can you do? You can’t compete.

SK: Fair enough. But looking at the players you gave a chance and later sold, a perception has been created that you are just all about that – developing players and selling them.

JS: No, not really. We are not a football team that wants to develop players and sell them. Like I said, we are hamstrung by the competition and the issue of sponsorship. You can imagine if we had a good partnership, we could be competing. Because when we had small partnerships like MTN, we were winning trophies. We were going to the Coca-Cola Cup finals and we would compete with the best. But now, we don’t have.

SK: But why is it so difficult for Cosmos to get those partnerships?

JS: I don’t know. We don’t have the financial muscle to hold on to good players that we bring here. It bothers me that we cannot hold onto them, but at the same time, it makes me proud. I am putting food on the table for a lot of families. A lot of them became millionaires and have created jobs. I am not greedy or a selfish person. I have opened doors for a lot of people. If a player comes here and says I would like to go to greener pastures, I let him go.

SK: How difficult is it to compete down there?

JS: It is very difficult. I don’t wanna lie. You have 16 teams competing for one thing.

SK: How does competition in that league compare with that in the topflight?

JS: It is more difficult to play here than in the PSL because here there’s no space to play. In the Premier League, they give you room to control, play, you know, look up … ah, (Fortune) Makaringe. Here, there is no time for that. Here, they close you down quickly and that is for 90 minutes, consistently.

SK: One issue you have been very vocal about is the issue of refereeing in that league. How bad is it?

JS: No, in some games. I don’t say everybody. Some games which I have seen. I am talking for my team. The game against Free State Stars; the game against Bizana (Pondo Chiefs). Hmmm, some of them. The PSL has got some very, very good referees – best referees, but errr, some of them are not so consistent. They are not consistent in their decisions when they are refereeing a game. I don’t want to get involved in any controversial stories.

SK: But Bra J, you have been in this game for a long time and you know about the refereeing shenanigans that...

JS: (Cuts in) No comment. You have seen it. No comment. If you know about it, write about it. Why do you want me to talk about it and be your spokesperson? SK: Bra J... JS: No, Sipho, I am not a spokesperson for corruption.

SK: But it is your team at the end of the day that has to suffer.

JS: It’s not me only. I don’t want to talk about referees. I just want to focus on my game. Let’s leave the issue of referees. Don’t get me involved.

SK: Anyway, you talk about allowing players to move to greener pastures after they have made their names at Cosmos. One such former player that you gave a chance is Pitso Mosimane. How do you feel when you see how successful he’s just becoming as a coach?

JS: He was not even a player we gave a chance. He is a player we groomed here. He came here and he was young when I spotted him at Rockville. We feel very proud. But you could see even when he was young, he was very arrogant. You could see he was gonna go places. I am not surprised by his success.

SK: When you say he was arrogant, what exactly are you referring to?

JS: Arrogant in the field of play. He believed in himself. He believed so much in himself. He believed that he was better than anybody.

SK: Is he becoming the best coach in Africa?

JS: He’s got an opportunity. He’s got a chance. He can do it. He’s got capabilities to do it. He’s coaching a rich team in Egypt. He’s capable.

SK: He’s got his sights on a move to Europe. Do you think he’s got what it takes to become the first South African to coach in the EPL?

JS: Yes. Knowing Pitso, Pitso will open any door. Even if it’s locked with 10 locks, he’ll want to open it.

SK: Had you not discovered this talent, chances are that we wouldn’t have got to witness this greatness and there are lots of other players you discovered. Do you feel Jomo Sono is getting the respect he deserves in local football?

JS: Yes, yes. I have got it, honestly. I have been honoured by three presidents in the country. What more do you want? I was voted by the people, not by PSL or SAFA. I was voted for by the people of this country as a Footballer of the Century. I am happy it is the people who are speaking. They voted on Metro FM. I was flying, you know, and I became Footballer of the Century. What else? Even if I die tomorrow, it’s enough.

SK: You have played with the likes of Pele, who is regarded as … well, the debate is ongoing as to whether he is, in fact, the greatest player of alltime...

JS: He is! He is the greatest player ever.

SK: Better than Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi, Ronaldo?

JS: By far. Don’t... no, you can’t compare. I was fortunate to play with him. I was fortunate to see Maradona, Messi, but Pele was the greatest.

SK: But while Santos claim he scored more than 1 000 goals in his career, critics lash out that a lot of those were actually unofficial goals.

JS: It’s fine. People will always say such in life, isn’t it? You will always have people who are positive and people who are negative. That’s life. That’s why if you look at my palm, it’s white this side and it’s black this side. It’s life.

SK: You are the Pele of local football. Would you accept that?

JS: Yes! JS: I am the Jomo. I am not the Pele. I am Jomo of local football.

SK: And that means the greatest to come out of South Africa?

JS: That is what is said. Myself and Ace Ntsoelengoe, and that’s what the country knows. The two great players are Jomo and Ace.

SK: You see now, Bra J, when you talk about you and the late Ace, you talk about two players that you could argue showcased what a South African-type of player is capable of. Sadly, in a country that is struggling to define its own football philosophy. Do we have a football philosophy?

JS: I don’t know what a philosophy is.

SK: A model that guides our type of play...

JS: (Interjects) A type of play is just to attack, to go forward. You lose it (the ball), you defend. That’s what we used to do.

SK: But that is not all you used to do. You used to dribble, take on players and use your skills and play to your strength. SK: And those are the things that when today’s players do, they are called ‘to order’.

JS: We were given freedom. Once you cross the halfway line, you take people on. If you look at Cosmos, all these years, same. When you look at Cosmos, all these years, when they

cross the halfway line, they can do whatever they want. But also, now you must understand that the first prize is R10 million. Coaches are scared. They are scared to lose their jobs. So, they become negative.

SK: Are you saying the money that should be making the game better, is actually doing damage?

JS: Not damaging. It’s not doing anything. There is a prize money. Times are different.

SK: But you are saying as a result of the prize money, the freedom of players is limited.

JS: It’s the coaches. Don’t take it to the prize money. It’s not the prize money. It’s not the money. It is us the coaches. We don’t want the players to express themselves. And you don’t blame the coaches. You lose one, two, three games, you are fired. It’s only me you can’t fire. I can’t fire myself. You can’t blame the coaches, but it’s not the money. The money is good. It’s good to have money like that in football.

SK: When you say you had the freedom, which coaches were giving you that freedom?

JS: All the coaches at (Orlando) Pirates were giving us freedom. Sometimes we used to coach ourselves. We’d say, ‘To hell with this coach.’ We’d speak in our language.

SK: And may we not forget that your special qualities were your strength, Bra J – that ability to take on players and do tricks with the ball, but the Makaringe factor is not allowed in today’s football. You used to do that. Were those circuses?

JS: No. Sometimes those things, they make the player to … ikufaka efomini (it gets you into form). And nakhona (even then), it depends (on) where the player is doing it. Makayenza la emuva (If he does it here at the back) and they steal it and score, it’s a problem. But if he does it up there, then that’s good. I allow my players to do that.

SK: It was lovely chatting to you, Bra J. Let’s leave it there.

JS: Thank you, Sipho! ❐

Arguably the best player South African football has ever produced, Jomo Sono has over the years struggled to keep his club in top-flight football and in recent seasons has had to contend with playing in the second tier. But such is his never-say-die spirit and determination, that every season, he dusts himself off and gives it another go. That is the Jomo Sono we have become accustomed to, a man who, even in the face of harsh criticism, is steadfast in his beliefs and keeps introducing young blood to South African football. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Sipho Kekana, The Troublemaker, as Sono was affectionately known during his heyday, talks about challenges he faces at Jomo Cosmos. The legendary Ezenkosi coach also talks about who he thinks are the greatest players of all-time, both locally and globally.