It’s two big games
On Chippa United’s morale-boosting win over Golden Arrows
This past weekend, we had a crucial 2-0 win against Arrows. It was a good game, everything went according to plan. There were bits of good moments from the way we played from the first minute. I mean, it was a must-win game for us and we had to give everything. It was a great match and right now we are working hard and looking forward to the next one against Polokwane City (on 23 December). We want to win more games so that we can move up the log table. But Golden Arrows is not an easy team to play against. Our game plan was to attack them and keep a tight defence. They are a good team and have more numbers in midfield. They are a ball possession-based team with technically gifted players. It’s almost like how we play games, and we had to match them and do more than them. We had to pass the ball around more than them. Both teams have a good structure and our build-up and how we move the ball around and use it is similar. So, we had to be better than them in every aspect to win.
On his well-taken goal
In the 18th minute, we received a free kick just outside the box from a difficult angle, I placed the ball and curled it behind the wall for the opening goal. It wasn’t easy, but I’ve been working hard on scoring free kicks like that from all angles from when I was at Cape
Town All Stars. This is something I’ve been working on. After training, I used to practise kicking balls behind the mannequins until it became a habit, and it worked. If you want to improve scoring free kicks, you just have to keep on working on that because that is something that can win your team games. I’ve always been working on it… it took time. When we went to the half-time break, the score was all that I was thinking of, and that we had to keep doing what we had been doing and keep working harder in order to win the game. I was already thinking about the fact we had to score one more goal because a 1-0 lead is not a good lead if you want to win the game. If we couldn’t score the second goal, it was important that we didn’t concede in the second half. Fortunately, just a minute after I was substituted for Diego (Appollis), Craig Martin scored the winner. It was a good feeling if you saw the scenes on the bench – everyone was standing and just high-fiving (each other). It was a good goal based on effort, never giving up and running until the last minute. We work on those things every day and that was a reward for the coach (Morgan Mammila), us as players, assistant coach and the entire technical team. Everyone works hard to put in an effort and those three points against Arrows were a beautiful reward for us.
On the team’s next two games before end of year
Between now and the end of the year, we have two crucial games: the first one is next week against Polokwane City and the last one is against TS Galaxy. We have 18 points and if we win these games, we might end this year inside the Top Eight. These two games will put us in the conversation for Top Eight, come end of the season, and if we want to stand a chance, we have to win these matches. We have to fight, it’s two big games. If we can’t get maximum six points, at least we need to get four points – that is the minimum requirement. The wins will take the relegation talks out of the conversation. We have to be in the Top Eight and maintain our good run. Personally,
I think this is something we can achieve based on how we’ve been playing. We have already lost four games, so we don’t want to lose more matches this season. This season, there have been ups and downs, but we will keep pushing. Personally, I want to help the team whether by scoring goals or making assists – it doesn’t matter. I just want to add value to my team. The first 14 games of the season have been good, but it can get better in the next few games. I always want to score and make assists. I have always scored against Cape Town Spurs and Arrows, but my personal best game was the match we lost 2-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns. Even though we didn’t score against Sundowns, I learned a lot against the best team in the league. I learned about what I need to do to get better and improve my game. In that game, I had to think deep for the entire 90 minutes, I had to absorb all the information about what I needed to do to take my game to the next level.
On what he wants to achieve this season
Besides wanting to help the club reach the top six, I want to at least finish the season with 15 goals. That is my personal aim this season. I would love to have a national team cap, not just one, but to go to Afcon, God willing. Winning a cup will be great. Right now, there is still a Nedbank Cup to play for and winning it is quite possible. Last season, I finished with three goals and, to be honest, it’s not good. It’s not the way I wanted the season to end, but I’m happy for those goals and I can only get better from there. I also made five assists. It’s not a bad record, but I personally believe that I can do better. I can score more goals and do more for the club. It’s good but not good enough. As players, we all want to score more to help the club reach the top four and in order to achieve that we need to have those numbers. That’s where I want to be. I know I can do better than last season. What I learned from last season is to be in the moment. As a player, if you are having a bad game, you have to take that and accept it. In that way, you can build your mental strength and get hungrier. In order to get your confidence back after a disappointing game, you have to be a beast. You can’t stop working or not wanting to do extra work because you are playing well. You have to keep pushing and remain more consistent.
Message to the fans
My message to Chippa United supporters as we go to the festive season is that we love them and they must keep on supporting us. As players, we will always give our all for them because we want to see them happy. Whether we are doing well or not doing well, they are always there supporting us. We want to reward them with good results.
Playing for Kaizer Chiefs exposed me to a lot of people and saw me build relationships that I would otherwise not have managed to do. That’s how powerful football can be because we meet a lot of people through it and some of them become like family over time. Playing against teams like Santos made me realise just how much talent this country really has. The game I mentioned earlier was more than just the game. There was more to it than just the 90 minutes that we played. I managed to gain and make friends with a couple of Santos players. Duncan Crowie, McCarthy, Burton and many other guys from that team became my friends and we still keep in touch. I happened to share a dressing room with some of them at national team level and that took our friendship to the next level. Just look at how beautiful this game is! The friendships, understanding and the love that develops among opposition players is something to behold. The respect that they build from the game is amazing. Because of that friendship, McCarthy found himself at Chiefs and I happened to be teammates with Crowie at Bafana Bafana. Sport really does play a massive role in uniting people. Through sport, you get exposed to learn about other people’s values and cultures, things you wouldn’t know or even bother to find out about. I’m happy to have made as many friends as I have and that makes me respect football even more. I wouldn’t have known so many people if it was not for football. I wouldn’t be able to just pick up the phone and call anyone, for whatever reasons, if it was not for football. It was beautiful to share moments with these guys and, once again, had it not been for football I wouldn’t have known the likes of Gerald Stober and many other legends.