Rewarded for his hard work
Mabunda enjoying his time at the top
AYOUNG Tiyani Mabunda would be proud of this older version of himself for persisting when things were bleak.
There was a time when Mabunda struggled to even make the bench at Mamelodi Sundowns because of players who were better than him. He was sent on loan to Free State Stars and transfer-listed on his return. When no club wanted to sign him, he was demoted to the reserve team.
But unlike the young Mabunda, who quit athletics when he found people who were faster than him, this Mabunda stuck it out. Because of that he is a league champion.
Tomorrow night he will rub shoulders with African football royalty when the Brazilians take on Zamalek in the African Champions League in Cairo (kick-off 7.30pm, TV SS4).
None of this would have happened if the young Mabunda hadn’t quit athletics after passing his matric. And that’s why this 28-year-old version is pleased with the decision his young self took.
“It wasn’t difficult for me to change from being an athlete to focus fully on football because when I was growing up I was only the best among the people who I competed with in my small surroundings,” he said.
“That changed when I encountered people from other provinces who were faster, stronger and better than me.
“I quit and took up football because I had always played it, even though it wasn’t my No 1 sport.
“Doing athletics helped me in my stamina and endurance. I use what I have learnt there in my football.
“The challenges I went through then prepared me to withstand the challenges that I faced at Sundowns. They made me stronger to stand up for myself, even outside of football.”
When not at work, Mabunda is taking care of his daughter, who turned 1 in February, the same month that he made his debut for Sundowns.
Since then he hasn’t looked back, filling the void left by Bongani Zungu to strike a solid partnership with Hlompho Kekana, whom he has always admired.
Mabunda has learnt a lot from Kekana. He has even borrowed a page from Kekana’s book, one from the chapter about the long-range goals that he is famous for.
Mabunda put what he has learnt on display when he scored a stunning strike in his Champions League debut against ES Setif in Algeria.
The home fans didn’t take Sundowns’s dominance well, throwing missiles on to the field and forcing the match to be stopped. The African football federation, CAF, reacted by kicking Setif out of the Champions League.
The win and the goals scored were nullified, which means future generations will not know about them.
“In my book that goal counts because I have people who motivate me to take shots,” Mabunda said.
“I have people who are the masters of those goals around me. I have people, like Hlompho Kekana, who push me to take shots because it’s not easy for us (defensive midfielders) to get inside the box, but we also have to pitch in with goals for the team. We practise a lot shooting from a distance.
“I have a person like Esrom Nyandoro, who also scored similar goals. He keeps pushing me to score more goals from afar. I believe that goal counts for me. It counts for Hlompho and Esrom because it was a culmination of something that we have worked towards for a long time.
“That goal is of big importance in my career. It showed that I can hold my own against the big boys in the continent. When I’m an old man, I will tell it to future generations because it’s a big source of pride.”