Those were exciting times
Richards Bay FC’s on-loan defender, Sandile Mthethwa, chats to Soccer Laduma’s Peter Raath about his interesting career in the junior ranks. He goes on to talk about his Bafana Bafana debut, Happy Jele and his next ambition.
Peter Raath: What are your thoughts on being touted as the possible understudy to Happy Jele following some excellent performances for Richards Bay FC?
Sandile Mthethwa: It’s not going to be easy because Jele has achieved a lot. I just want to come with something new at Orlando Pirates by creating Mthethwa. I also need to pin my surname like he’s done. But having said that, I’m not going to lie, I’d like to follow in his footsteps. Jele is a good leader, someone whom I’m able to get advice from. My current coach, Brandon Truter, has played a big role in what I’ve achieved in only my second NFD season. Firstly, he believes in me by always saying that I’m one of the best centre-backs in SA and abroad, while he also likes my style of play. I’m good at interceptions, can pass the ball well and sometimes do get aggressive when it’s needed, but I’m a clean player. Brandon encourages me to do my best in each and every game. I’ve scored four goals, including first round winners against Ajax Cape Town and Maccabi FC, and always wanted to play for a club based at the Umhlathuze Sports Complex. PR: Why do you say that? SM:
Because as a youngster growing up in Empangeni, I used to watch Thanda Royal Zulu’s home matches, which ignited my love for the game. Under amateur coach Nkosenhle Ngema, I got an opportunity to play in a competitive league. In fact, at the age of 14, I made my SAB debut as a central midfielder for a local side called Flamingo FC. After joining the KZN Academy, I was converted to a centre-back and later played in the ABC Motsepe League for Durban FC. That’s where Brian Hlongwa, who’s on loan at Real Kings, and I were together scouted for Pirates in 2016. The guy saw the potential in us.
PR: By that stage, you’d been to Russia with Flamingo, visited Ghana for an assessment and were about to captain Bucs’ youth team in London, having already helped Amajita to qualify for the U20 World Cup in 2017.
SM:
Those were exciting times, Peter. I’m already on my second passport (huge laughter). In 2013, aged 16, I flew for the first time after Flamingo were invited to Russia for a tournament. We’d already played a competition in Durban. Then it was Ghana for three days. I didn’t understand exactly what was happening, but people said that there were scouts present from Europe. I was also supposed to sign for Portuguese club CS Maritimo, however, I thought the communications regarding my departure date were not decisive, so I called that off. If I’m supposed to play in Europe, I will. Playing for the Orlando Pirates Project X youth team against the likes of QPR and Manchester United was a great experience. In total, I have eight U20 caps and the game that stood out the most for me came in the 2017 AFCON semi-final, when we lost 1-0 to Zambia at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka. It was the first time where I’d played in front of such a big crowd. The match went into extra time. I’ve learnt a lot and can see the improvement in my game.
PR: You also made your Bafana Bafana debut against Zambia in a CHAN qualifier almost two years prior to playing a big role in Amaglug-glug’s recent two-legged 6-1 thrashing of Angola.
SM:
Being in the senior national side is every young player’s dream, but I never thought it would come so quick. For now, Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshwayo is the player I look up to the most – he’s the commander and a real captain. My Amaglug-glug debut in Luanda went well (laughing). The big pitch was decent, with proper grass on which the team could play properly. It’s always difficult away from home, but we scored two early goals before leading 3-0. Angola scored from a late free kick, which wasn’t good. I played the full 90 minutes in both the away and home fixtures. My next goal is to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Japan.
PR: Returning to the NFD, the Natal Rich Boyz were made to look very ordinary during shock 2-0 and 5-0 defeats at the hands of lowly Real Kings and Ubuntu Cape Town. What went wrong?
SM:
I can tell you that NFD teams are very tough to play against. As much as we wanted to beat Kings, I think they wanted it more than us. I really don’t know what to say about the Ubuntu defeat… I don’t know what went wrong, but it was as if Richards Bay didn’t want to play. We will make sure that the team wins its next match against Maccabi FC.
PR: But just when it looked like that was going to be the case, Joel Masutha’s side suddenly grabbed a 2-1 win with two late goals.
SM:
I don’t know what really happened. We did well for most of the game, until Maccabi brought on the right substitute at the right time.