MENZI MASUKU
With Orlando Pirates leading SuperSport United 2-1 during a League match in April 2014, Masuku receives a pass near the centreline facing his own goal. The speedy winger spins away from his marker, enters the SuperSport half and cuts inside. 25 meters away from goal, it’s click-click-bang – the 22-year-old rifles a powerful shot into the back of the net, etching his name into Pirates folklore.
THAT outstanding strike won the Absa Premiership Goal of the Season and announced Masuku’s arrival on the professional stage. But despite all the media attention, Masuku doesn’t want this to define him as a player. “After that goal most PSL players started to recognise who Menzi Masuku was, and I also played more for the first team, so it came at the right time,” Masuku says. “But that goal is not something I want to be remembered for – I don’t want people to say, ‘There’s Masuku who scored the goal of the season’. There are so many things I would like to achieve in my career. And so far I think I’m on the right track. I’ve been playing well for my team and the national Under-23 team. So I am very happy with my progress.” After coming through the development ranks at Jomo Cosmos and Dynamos, the KwaMashu-born midfielder joined Pirates at the beginning of the 2014/15 season. While his namesake Khethokwakhe Masuku was dazzling Bucs fans in the senior team, Menzi was still honing his skills with the reserve team in the Multichoice Diski Challenge. Here he won two Man of the Match awards before making his senior debut in November 2014 against SuperSport. The Diski Challenge has breathed new life into the Reserve League, and Masuku
believes the tournament is a great stepping-stone: “I don’t think people realise how important the Diski Challenge is, the entire PSL is benefiting from it. Youngsters can gain valuable experience before graduating to the PSL,” he says. In just his second professional season, Masuku is already a key player at Pirates, and he is proving the same in Owen da Gama’s Under-23 side that qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. But he admits he still has a lot to learn. “Playing in the CAF Confederation Cup was great because it was a whole new experience. It’s a more tactical game; it’s allabout protecting the ball and playing more for the team,” he says. “It’s also about working hard when you don’t have the ball because if you don’t do that you get punished. I also had to learn about adapting to playing in different conditions in a short space of time, and recovering very quickly because you play midweek here, and the weekend in a different country.” “We needed to rest and train properly and that is something the coach explained to us. I want to work hard and focus more on my game and listen to what the coach wants, and take advice from more experienced players. That will help me grow. I will also get a chance to represent my country at the Olympics in Brazil.”