One thing you must know…

Delmain Faver: Tower, you literally came from nowhere and have taken the PSL by storm since being promoted to the Baroka FC senior team in 2020. Tell us about where the club first discovered you.

Evidence Makgopa: No, I was playing amateur football, normal kasi tournaments. Ja, I was just playing there in one of the tournaments at Burgersfort, which was hosted by Baroka. So, normally their MDC (MultiChoice Diski Challenge) team participate in that tournament, so I think in December 2018, it was the time we became the champions, I was playing with a dream team from Moroke. I come from Burgersfort, but I was playing for Dream Team in that game and we won. Baroka then took me for trials and I’m glad I managed to be one of the players who come from rural areas to play in the PSL.

DF: We hear that you were quite a skilful player when you were scouted, something that you had to change a lot when you moved to the professional ranks…

EM:

I wasn’t that player who does skills going back or something. I think I was just a versatile player who could go forward and help his team win games because in tournaments, there’s no such thing of points, you just play for a win, so it’s do-or-die. So, I think I was just versatile. From that level of football to professional, you have to sacrifice a lot of things and change things.

DF: Which things are those that you needed to change?

EM:

Sometimes in kasi football, during the game, you can be changed from a striker to a defender. So, one minute you’ll score, then the next you have to defend the goal you had just scored. So, here, you have to know where you have to play. If you are a centre-forward, that means you have to remain there and do whatever the striker is supposed to do –that’s the business of the day.

DF: Often we see a lot of players struggle in their second season in the elite division, where the ‘unknown’ tag falls away and opponents figure them out. However, this doesn’t seem to have been the case with you.

EM:

I must say it’s not that, tough, because you know sometimes you need to dedicate yourself to this thing and you have to be humble all the time and you have to learn from the best. One thing for sure, if you have teammates that push you, you can do even better. So, I think having teammates who support you is key, especially because this is the first time (for me) starting a season. Last season, I think I only played 12 games, so this season some of the guys who have been here before have been pushing me and telling me that I can do this and that, then everything will go well. It’s good to have people who believe in you and who can identify what you can do. Even during the season when it gets tough, they still motivate you to do better and in most situations you can pick yourself up.

DF: This season, Baroka FC appear to be building their game plan around you as the target man, with other players feeding off of you. How have you found this role? EM: You know, as a top man, your role is to score, but if someone gives you

In what is just his second season in the South African topflight, Evidence Makgopa has taken to the league like a duck to water and is firing up Baroka FC’s survival fight quite literally. The 20-year-old has come a long way since being scouted on the dusty streets of Limpopo in 2018 and has now become one of the most feared forwards in the DStv Premiership. In this candid conversation with Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver, the man nicknamed “Tower” opens up about his incredible rise to prominence, how he deals with being doubleteamed by opposition defenders and why he hopes to be named in the final 23-man Olympic Games squad. a pass and it’s the wrong pass, then you have to fight for the ball. You cannot let the ball be owned by the opponents while you can still fight for it. Obviously, when it comes to aerial balls, I know I can fight for it. When it comes to the ground, I can also fight for it, so my role is to hold the ball for my teammates so that we can break.

DF: We have seen you perform extremely well in big games, particularly against Mamelodi Sundowns and K aizer Chiefs, whom you scored against earlier this season... EM:

For me, all the games are equal. Nothing is different or special about other teams. As you know, if goals come, they will come. If it isn’t your day, it will come another day. So, I can’t say I put effort when we play against so-called big teams or what. You know, sometimes to score is to find yourself at the right place

EVIDENCE MAKGOPA FACT FILE

Date of birth: 5 June 2000 Place of birth: Burgersfort, Limpopo Nickname: Tower at the right time, so I think those games you mention, the balls find me at the right place at the right time.

DF: Countless times this season, defenders have doubled up on you and you seem to receive special attention. How have you managed to change your game to deal with this?

EM: Ja, they do. If you look at our game against Chippa United, they had two centre-backs (on me). I think even during the throw-ins, two of them would come. I think most of the games they do that. I think they noticed that maybe this is how Baroka is playing, I don’t know, but they target me now. Even if you check our games, I know that not all of them are live games, but if you can check those that were live, you can notice that. But Sometimes if God gives you something, nobody can take that from you. So, I think I just play my normal game and do what I am capable of, what I can do and (can) give my team just to bring more effort, energy and ability. I think I will get more positive results from that, so I don’t have to change

Position: Striker Jersey number: 27 Club: Baroka FC my style of play for someone or some teams. If you try to be someone else, you will start to fail. It’s a normal thing for a team to analyse you and your teammates and come up with a plan to close you down, but for me, I just have to be myself.

DF: Since breaking through to the paid ranks, you have worked under the guidance of two coaches, in Dylan K err and Matsimela Thoka. What impact have they had on your game?

EM: On that, I don’t know, but I know it takes passion to believe in someone. Both coaches believed in me. First it was Dylan Kerr and coach Matsimela was his assistant at that moment. Now he is the head coach and I’m still doing the same. So, for me, I think all I can do is to play football. I can adapt to any style of football under any type of coach, so I think I have managed to do that under both these coaches.

Previous clubs: FC Reserves Honours: None

DF: Moving on, you were recently included in the 40-man preliminary U23 Olympic Games squad, something that must have been a very proud moment for you?

EM: It is. I think every player who is U23 at the moment also wants to be in this Olympic squad, so I think I must congratulate everyone that managed to make the preliminary squad. I think that it’s a big honour to be there. Maybe you can get a chance to represent your country, so it’s a special moment for me because I know some of the players that are my peers would also like to be on that list. But this is a big thing for me. Even if I don’t make it to the final squad, I will appreciate it. If I do make the final squad, however, I will just go and represent

my country.

DF: In the last few months, there has been a lot of talk about the European interest that you have reportedly attracted. Such reports must be music to your ears, to see that your talent is being recognised. EM: Ja, I do have those ambitions of going abroad. I really wanna play there. Playing far from home is going to be a big thing, but to reach there, I need to be man enough, I need to be humble enough and I need to be brave, you know, put more work in, work harder and add to my goals.

DF: Speaking of goals, you have managed to score six this season. Was there a target you set for yourself at the start of the campaign?

EM: Ja, there was. I said at the beginning of the season (that) if I can get around nine or 10, I’ll be very happy. Even now, I’ve got six… I’m impressed, I’m not that far from nine or 10. I think Baroka has 25 goals and if we can just be in the Top Eight and I can score around nine goals, I’ll be very happy. One thing you must know is that I want to compete there to be the Young Player of the Season. I must check those kind of things, maybe I can obtain them individually.

DF: Last year, you were nominated for the Nedbank Cup Most Promising Player of the Tournament accolade, which eventually went to Mamelodi Sundowns starlet K eletso Makgalwa. Did seeing him lift that trophy give you added motivation this season?

EM: Absolutely! I’m motivated that I was nominated. I think that nomination inspired me a lot. It was a special moment for me, even though I didn’t win. I saw then that people can recognise me from the dusty streets to somewhere else. Where I come from, there’s dusty ground, but I can say to myself I can do this, I can push more. I know I can get the award, I just need to push and add to my goals, like I told you – then I can be there.

“Nothing is different or special about other teams.”

“It was a special moment for me, even though I didn’t win.”

DF: Evidence, thank you for the chat. All the best with the rest of the season, and hopefully you guys fulfil your Top Eight ambitions.

EM: Thanks, my brother.

Dream Team, Juventus (both amateur), Baroka