African success

RENEILWE LETSHOLONYANE chuckled loudly when asked about his longevity in the beautiful game.

And that’s because the now 35-year-old, SuperSport United midfielder, who was a special guest at the launch of the SAB Under-21 National Championship in Newtown yesterday, was simply trying to swot away the notion that the older the player, the more they underperform.

But Yeye was the opposite of that in his first season with Matsatsantsa a Pitori after parting ways with Kaizer Chiefs at the beginning of last season.

In fact, the midfield maestro played an integral role in helping the Tshwane side becoming the first PSL side to defend the Nedbank Cup, while also helping them to reach the quarter-finals of this year’s Caf Confederation Cup tournament.

“Yoh bra,” exclaimed Yeye, “if it comes, it will count as one of my biggest achievements. I would really love to have that gold medal around my neck.

“We have a belief as a club that we can go all the way (to the final). We’ve been to other parts of the continent and managed to comeback with a good result. The same thing applies with our upcoming trip to Zambia (which is two months away). We believe that we can come back with a good result from there against Zesco United given the experience our coach, Eric Tinkler, has on the continent.”

Meanwhile, Matsatsantsa reported for pre-season training today and Letsholonyane hopes his performance in the upcoming season will be impressive enough to convince his former coach, Stuart Baxter, give him a call-up in future Bafana Bafana camps.

“If get a call-up, I would gladly oblige,” Yeye said. “I never said that I wanted to retire from international football. Never ... Given the chance, I would gladly play for the senior national team again.”