Anthony Laffor

The all-weather Mamelodi Sundowns forward reveals how he remains at the top of his game despite not being a regular, before anticipating what’s in store in future.

Being Anthony Laffor is not easy. The Mamelodi Sundowns forward doesn’t play as much football as he would want, but remains a man of all seasons who, whenever called upon, will always get the job done. Laffor has been in South Africa for 14 years now and won five league titles along with many other trophies, while boasting a CAF Champions League winners’ medal as well. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo sat face-to-face with the 34-year-old to find out just how he is always able to remain sharp and focused, even without playing regular football.

KICK OFF: Hi Anthony! How does it feel to be back on the pitch after your most recent injury troubles? Anthony Laffor: It is important because everyone wants to play. What matters most for me is that those who have been playing have been doing very well and I have been supportive of them. Getting a chance now means I just need to make full use of it.

You marked your return with a handful of goals as well. How do you manage to maintain your focus when you are not even playing, seeing that this is a challenge a lot of players struggle with? That is very important because when you are not playing, you need to remain focused so that when your chance comes, you pay attention to detail by listening to the coaches. I always keep my feet on the ground and listen to what the coach wants me to do. If I’m not playing, I’m not a guy that will sulk, but instead I always continue working hard. I always want to work for the team. We are all different people, but I have been in the game for a very long time, so I understand that Mamelodi Sundowns is a big club. This means I know very well that when I’m not playing, the guy that is playing is doing so on merit and what I should do is support him because tomorrow when he is not playing and I’m playing, I will need his support as well. We have to encourage each other because it is all for the benefit of the team.

Often when game-time is limited, many players tend to just give up … There is something called selfdiscipline, being responsible and respecting your job. I’m not saying other guys are not responsible, but with me, I know how to take care of myself because I know what I want in life.

Many players in your position often get frustrated and look for ways to leave their club, but you seem to know how to deal with this in a different way … I never pay attention to leaving a

club as long as I’m still contracted because I will still be concentrating on playing football. What is important for me is to always work hard while paying attention to what the coaches want me to do and respecting my teammates. All I ever want is to make use of the opportunity to play whenever I get it. As a footballer you have to be responsible because there are so many things out there that you don’t need to do. We are all different people and I’m happy that today you can see it is different with me. I still want to do more and can do so by keeping my feet on the ground while working hard for my team and my family.

Is this something that comes with maturity? You have to be mature, yes, but the most important thing is discipline. With age comes experience and knowing that you have to pay attention to detail and manage your time and body well. I never pay attention to what people say on the outside because all I want is to play football. You will never meet me at midnight in a nightclub dancing because I’m very focused on what I want. Even right now when I’m playing, I’m never one to go out there and show off and say ‘look at me now I’m playing’. I can never do that because I know I’m Anthony Laffor from Liberia. For all the 14 years that I have been here, you have never read about me in the newspapers for bad things and this is because I came here to play football and not misbehave. That is what has kept me going for this long.

Is this also something to do with your mindset, considering how differently we are all wired? I’m different because I’m from a country where we have had to work hard from day one. There was a war for so many years in Liberia and I was there during the war [First Civil War 1989-1997 and Second Civil War 1999-2003], so the mindset implanted in me because of those experiences is what makes me different. I want to work to achieve instead of just sitting and expecting favours. I have worked for everything I have earned and everything I have now in South Africa, I have worked hard for it as well. When

Sundowns won the league, I worked. When Sundowns won the Champions League, I worked, just like I also worked in the Super Cup. You have to be humble and work while paying attention to what the people around you want. The secret is that you have to respect them as well.

Is your resilience something that was implanted in you from your younger years back home in Liberia? When I started playing football back home during the time of the war, I just thought it would be something I would only be doing in the community so that people could see me. However, the moment I left my country [for Ghanaian club Ashanti Goldfields SC in 2003] I realised that it is different, which made me start thinking about where I had come from. In order to survive in Ghana, you had to speak the local language, and where I was in Obuasi, it was rare to find people speaking English. The guys I played with there, who included Fatau Dauda [ex-Orlando Pirates and Chippa United goalkeeper], only spoke the local language so it was different, but I had to adapt to the situation. This was all before I came to South Africa. I realised I needed to have that never-say-die attitude while in Ghana.

South Africa can’t be any harder than what you experienced in Liberia and Ghana … It was difficult playing for a club like Jomo Cosmos who were very good at the time and actually won the Coca-Cola Cup in my first season with them, in a team including Mamadou Diallo, Chris Katongo and Valery Nahayo. It was then I got the belief that if I can win something with Cosmos, then I can progress further. I then moved to SuperSport United where I won the league twice and realised just how different it was. Then when I came to Sundowns some people were saying this is a club where I will be lost in two months, but today it has been seven years. It is not easy here at Sundowns, but you have to be humble. Luckily I pay attention to my work more than anything.

Do you feel there can ever be a challenge in football now that will scare you? Not a chance! No ways! Not even coaches can scare me! You need to understand that I have worked under Jomo Sono, then Gavin Hunt and now Pitso Mosimane for six years here at Sundowns. They are all different characters, but what has helped me cope is that I had been to Ghana where it was survival of the fittest. It wasn’t easy in Ghana, but I took something from there with me to South Africa which is why I kept on going through the most difficult of challenges. You must never forget about your roots.

When players talk about the hardships of playing continental football, you must then just laugh that off … [Laughing] I’m from West Africa, so I eat any food. We were in Nigeria recently and I was eating eba (traditional West African food made from fried grated cassava flour) and “Keke” [Hlompho Kekana] was laughing at me. It is different with me because of the national team and playing Champions League football. It is a good space which is why everyone wants to be in that space. It is important for every player to be playing and travelling around Africa because it is a massive experience. Playing in the Champions League with Sundowns and going to Japan for the Fifa Club World Cup is different. If it wasn’t for Sundowns, I don’t think I would have ever played at the Club World Cup, so that is why I’m grateful to this club.

There has recently been a lot of noise made about your contract at Sundowns. Have you started imagining yourself away from Chloorkop? I don’t pay attention to what people say about contracts because I have a good management team that handles all my contractual issues. I have a few months left on my contract, but I’m still here to play football, so I will cross that bridge when I reach it. I’m under no pressure whatsoever. Right now, I don’t need to be paying any attention to talk about being outside Sundowns because what counts is that every week I’m here at Chloorkop. My attention is only on working hard for the benefit of the team.

Having been here at Chloorkop for so long, do you not have a fear of the changes you’d experience, should you leave? Yes, it is true that I have been here for long, but if they are not chasing you