My Dream Team
Bennett B Mnguni joined Mamelodi Sundowns from amateur side Republican Brothers B as a striker but was quickly q converted to defensive midfielder by coach Ted Dumitru. And that is the position in which he made a name for himself, ncluding playing in the UEFA Champions League where he came up against likes of Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo. In his edition of My Dream Team, he picks his best 11 players he has ever played with.
1 Goalkeeper John Tlale
I rate my former Sundowns teammate, John Tale, as the best of the best because when you played with him, he would give you all the necessary information you needed. He was good at analysing players. In one-on-one situations he was good at dealing with opposition strikers and even on penalties he would make saves.
2 Right-back Themba Mnguni
I rate Themba a lot because he was confident and him being captain gave him the fighting spirit we needed. You had to work hard to go past him because he was difficult to beat. He was great player and helped Sundowns win many trophies.
3 Left-back Isaac Shai
Most of my team is made up of former
Sundowns players and that is why I’m picking Isaac Shai at left-back. Lovers Mohlala used to play ahead of him, and sometimes as a leftback as well. But the two of them had a great understanding and communicated well in terms of what to do when we are attacking. But overall Shai was technically good.
4 Centre-back Joas Magolego
The late Joas took me under his wing when I was promoted to the Sundowns first team. I respected him a lot. He knew how to position himself. Off the field, there was a time when I wanted to quit football because things were not working the way I wanted them to work, and he encouraged me to stay. He told me to fight for my place and that is what I did.
5 Centre-back Dan Malesela
Dan was like a commander; he was in charge of the entire team, not just the defence. He used to shout a lot and gave clear instructions. If you lost the ball, he would tell you not to worry but to try again. He was a positive influence in team.
6 Central midfield Dmitry Loskov
My midfield partner at Lokomotiv Moscow was Dmitry Loskov. A midfield general who read the game very well and was also the captain of the Russian national team. He was confident and used to boss the midfield, I’ve never seen someone so composed under pressure.
7 Right-wing Sibusiso Zuma
I played with Zuma in the national team and when he had the ball on the right wing, you knew that he would never lose it. When I gave him the ball, I used to pass
and run into a space because I knew where he would put the ball. I used to trust him a lot.
8 Playmaker Vladimir Maminov
Maminov was a playmaker and he was also at Lokomotiv Moscow. He played more like a number 8 and was similar to Alex ‘Barnes’ Bapela. He didn’t lose the ball and was good in attacking players in one-on-one situations. He did not rush under pressure and knew where to play the ball.
9 Forward Raphael Chukwu
The Chukwu Train. I will tell you one thing about him, for me to shine it was all because of Raphael. Every time I passed him the ball; he would make use of it; he didn’t lose it. My job was to make sure that I created chances for him to score. We all played to Chukwu’s strength and that is why most of his goals were one-on-one with the goalkeeper or tap ins.
Forward Daniel Mudau
Mambush combined very well with Chukwu because he was not selfish. Some of the goals scored by Chukwu were created by Mambush. While Chukwu played with his back against the defenders, Mambush was better suited at running at defenders.
11 Left-wing Dillon Sheppard
I played with Dillon at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. We won pretournament match against Turkey and I hit the post twice after getting crosses from Dillon. He used to beat players on the wing and play crosses.