Veli has ‘crazy bond’ with Moeneeb

AMAZULU No 1 Veli Mothwa has heaped praise on goalkeeping coach Moeneeb Josephs after being named Premiership Player of the Month yesterday.

Mothwa was honoured along with Usuthu head coach Benni McCarthy, who was named Coach of the Month for March/April.

The 30-year-old shotstopper has kept seven clean sheets in 10 matches, and also earned a maiden Bafana Bafana call-up during this period for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan.

Mothwa and Josephs have developed a special bond on the training ground, which has had a major impact on him developing as a goalkeeper.

"Me and him (Josephs) are more like the same. We are crazy like the coach says. We are the crazy goalkeepers in the team. I took his craziness from Ajax (Cape Town), Wits and (Orlando) Pirates and I am putting it in my brain now," Mothwa said.

"He has added so many things. He has added a lot. He came with his ideas and I came with mine. We combine so nicely, and we push for more success. Every time we train, he says he is not looking for quantity but looking for quality."

McCarthy certainly believes Mothwa is destined for higher honours, particularly because of his intense desire to improve at every training session.

"I am a super proud coach. I like players that want to improve when they come to training. Veli is a perfect example of wanting to be better, in tune with what he wanted to achieve for myself. He still has a long road to go but the work ethic he has shown, this is only the beginning," McCarthy said.

"I have assessed the league, and it’s not because I am biased and he is my goalkeeper, but I don’t think that you can play for AmaZulu and put in the performances that this guy (Mothwa) has done.

“If any other goalkeeper would have come to AmaZulu, I don’t think we would have had the season that we’ve had. That tells you a lot about the quality of this guy sitting next to me. He is (a) top, top, top-class goalkeeper. To do what he has done, and by playing for a modest, lesser quality team, that has a lot of merit."

AmaZulu’s title challenge suffered a crippling blow on Tuesday when they went down to 1-0 to Baroka FC, which leaves Mamelodi Sundowns within touching distance of retaining their league title. Sundowns need just one victory from their remaining four matches.

AmaZulu enjoy a much-deserved break this weekend, before travelling to Soweto to face Orlando Pirates next week.