SAM MAGALEFA

(PART 2)

Geez, we didn’t expect you to go in that hard in last week’s edition, big guy…

It’s painful what’s happening in our football, man. I think even you journalists are struggling with these young boys now because he’s in form now for this month, you write about him, and then after two months he goes quiet and does nothing. It’s like you were selling that person, but you were doing your job. The rising star. Then after a year, that person is no longer there in the picture. It makes you look like you have favourites, and people will say, “Hayi maan, Bra Lunga is promoting this boy.” You see what you see at that time, uyashisa lo mfana (this boy is in red-hot form), but once he loses form, now it makes it look like Bra Lunga was taking sides and that he just loves the boy. Yet you were only reacting to his form at the time.

You’ve painted a clear picture of the inconsistency of our players nowadays. It’s difficult to put a finger on where the problem really is, maybe it’s just a lack of desire on the part of our players, or the ‘I’ve-made-it’ syndrome. Anyway, moving on to you, where and how did your playing career start?

Hmmm… funny. You know, amajita (guys) change teams frequently when they are playing local football, but I played for only one team, Mapetla Barcelona. That’s it. The funny part, the guy I played with there joined the Bidvest Wits Colts, the U17s. His name is Noko Matjekane. He was a good friend of mine. We started school the same year, we are agemates. We used to play soccer together every day, and even running. Both of us were competitive. He said to me, “Let’s go (to Wits).” I told him, “Hey man, I’m staying here. I can’t go and play for abelungu mina (the whiteys).” I was enjoying the comfort at my club and being the star of Soweto. So, what happened… his mother invited me to go watch him play one time. She said, “No, you need to go and support your friend just once. Go and watch him play.” I still remember we went to a game, me and his mother, to go watch him play, and I saw them wearing these nice tracksuits. They looked quite good in club merchandise and mind you, in the township we never had those things. If I’m not mistaken, they were a player or two short and then they gave me a run. The coaches were like, “Your friend can play? This shortie? And you say he plays as a striker? Okay, we’ll put him in just because we are short on players.” Then I went in there and for 15 minutes I was struggling because they were not passing me the ball and they didn’t understand me. Remember they had their own stars. But my friend was trying so hard to locate me with long passes from defence, where he played. I think I scored a goal out of the 18-yard area from nowhere. Everybody just went quiet and I’m sure they were like, “What has just happened here? This guy hasn’t touched the ball all game long, he touches it once and it’s a goal!” Since then, I never stopped. But I know that I didn’t wanna sign a contract with Wits.

You must be kidding!

I think I played three games for them and I scored around nine goals. Mind you, we played against some troublesome teams in those three games, like Florida Albion, which was a team made up of only white players, and Milo Kaizer Chiefs, that one of Jabu Pule (now Mahdidn’t langu) and them. But mina I ‘feel’ those people, there was no challenge for me. They told me, “You see this team we are about to play, they haven’t lost in the league”, but deep down in my heart I was like akunabantu la (there’s no challenge here) because I grew up with this concept that no one is better than me when it comes to playing. My grandfather instilled that. He used to say, “You are a star, no one is better than you.” So, that’s why I had that confidence ukuthi bheka (to say look), as long as you have two feet and I have two, there’s no way you will be better than me. My advantage was that I could play any position because at Mapetla Barcelona, when we had a shortage on the left, I would go to the left. When the shortage was on the right, I would go to the right. Goalkeeping, I was there. Moving around positions was my thing. So, short story about Wits… I didn’t wanna sign because I was honest to my team from the location. Until I spoke to Derek Blanckensee (club general manager at the time). I think they sent people to speak to uBab’omkhulu wam (my grandfather) and he signed in my absence. He told me, “Monday, you are going to training. You have signed. You are playing for Wits.” So, I didn’t wanna go, but then he told me, “Then go and find a place to stay. You’re gonna go there.” So, I was forced to go there. At the end of the day, I became the Top Goalscorer for the U17s and I think I played only 12 games because when I joined, the season was already halfway through. I remember we played against abo (the likes of) Jabu, that is where we saw each other. I scored a goal while I was next to the centre line. I didn’t even know who was standing behind the Kaizer Chiefs posts, only to hear after the game ukuthi, “Hey wena, you scored a goal that made Kaizer Motaung come inside the field.” The opposition players were protesting saying it was not a goal because it went in and came out the other side of the net. This old man was busy saying, “No, referee, it’s a goal.” He then jokingly later told me, “Hey, you’ve got a powerful shot. Don’t you want to join iKhosi?” So, the coaches and Derek saw that and acted on that.

You snooze, you lose hey. That’s when they signed me and gave me a contract for the U19s. I was paid R300 a month. I think it took two years before I became a first-team player because age was still on my side back then. I didn’t play for the Reserves, I went straight to the late Eddie Lewis’ team from the U19s. He used to watch our games and one time he came to me and said, “Next year you are my striker. You are going to play all the games.” Yho, that confidence in me! I was shocked though because the club had bought Marks Maponyane and Nicky Shaw. Then we played against the newly-formed Ajax (Cape Town), where I scored two goals in my first game. I was the first person to score against them. Lucky Qaba scored the other goal as we beat them 3-0. So, everybody started talking about me and I became the Top Goalscorer of the first team in my first season. I scored about 13 or 14 goals. “Mambush” (Daniel Mudau), I think, won the Golden Boot with 19 or so goals. I was the talk of the town. But when we went to negotiate a new contract, they wanted to add R200. Then I was advised by Maponyane, to say, “No, no, not with your potential. Just leave.” I didn’t know what to do. I was just shocked to receive a call from Pitso (Mosimane) and the late Thomas Madigage, saying, “Boy, come this side.” But funnily enough, I went to Manning Rangers. Shakes Kungwane was alive then. I went there before I signed with SuperSport United. I didn’t go to SuperSport.

Oh, really?

I went there, stayed there for a week and then after seeing the lifestyle there, I was like, “No ways! Ngiyophela la (I’m going to be finished here).” The players hardly got any sleep because the team flat where the guys were staying, downstairs there was a nightclub. They didn’t even know that I had left, I just left! I went to SuperSport as a striker, but I was not given game-time. Patrick Mayo was still hot back then, together with Raymond Seopa. There was also another guy called Doctor, who was from Zimbabwe – he was a good striker. So, I was struggling to make the team, I would play here and there and then score one or two. But I was not happy because I was not playing, and I was not the type to just add numbers. So, I spoke to Bruce (Grobbelaar) – he was the head coach and Pitso was the assistant. I asked him, “Why am I not playing?” He said, “No, you haven’t reached the level where we want you to be.” I told him, “My problem is I become frustrated when I’m not playing. I’m used to playing, from local level. I enjoy playing, I don’t wanna watch.” I then started having problems with coach Pitso…

We’re dead sure this is an interesting one. Let’s hear all about it next week, Sammy. Cheers. Next week it is.