Future captain?
In the early days of his career, Madisha wore the captain’s armband for the National U-20 team and he has previously captained Sundowns’ MultiChoice Diski Challenge side. He knows what it takes to be a leader and learning from experienced campaigners such as Hlompho Kekana, Denis Onyango, Kennedy Mweene, Anele Ngcongca and Tiyani Mabunda, among others, will no doubt help him along the way. Former Sundowns defender Tshiamo Seneo explains why he feels Madisha could be the perfect replacement for Kekana in future.
“We should also not shy away from giving credit to guys like Pitso and Manqoba (Mngqithi) for their efforts in helping him grow as a player. They have done a tremendous job with him. If you have a coach that believes in you and is willing to give you a chance, that’s good. Last season, at times, he was making some crucial mistakes, let’s be honest. But this season he has matured and he is more of a leader. He has leadership qualities in him. I was telling one friend of mine that I look at him as the future captain of Sundowns. Right now he has the presence and you see that when they have fights on the field, he is able to intervene and he can even take the senior players to the side. Those are rare qualities of a leader. You need leaders in teams like Sundowns for the team to grow and be stable, so I think they have done a good thing by giving him the platform and nurturing him properly. When you look at it, he is a good investment because Sundowns don’t have to go out to buy a player of his caliber. He is already there, so it helps the team financially. He is the type of a player you can build a team around and he will be a good role model for most of the players that are still going to come in at Sundowns in future. At 25, he is level-headed. I hope they keep developing his leadership qualities. I would not be surprised if they give him the armband, upon the retirement of Hlompho Kekana. The fact that he can learn from players such as Kekana, Nascimento and others augurs well for the team.”