I had even forgotten about Pirates
Since arriving in Mzansi in to turn out for Bloemfontein Celtic, Sera Motebang has always showed glimpses of being a top striker with his knack for scoring goals. His exploits for Lesotho’s Matlama FC as well as for the national team are enough for the evidence. In this interview, Motebang tells Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina about how moving to the PSL was the realisation of a dream, the hiccups along the way notwithstanding. The 26-year-old also discusses his current struggles at Royal AM, where he hasn’t been playing regularly this season. Motebang also has a special message for Celtic supporters, with whom he had a special bond during the two years he spent at the club whose name now only exists in
memory.
Masebe Qina: You’ve been playing in the South African topflight for more than two years now. What do you think of the standard of the DStv Premiership?
Sera Motebang: Alright, I have been in South Africa for three-and-a-half years (sic) and, before I came here, I was playing in Lesotho. It wasn’t that difficult for me to adapt to this league, even though it is more competitive than the league in Lesotho. I made sure that I adapted quickly and I was helped by the coaches and my teammates in doing so. If you are familiar with the Lesotho Premier League and know the South African league, there is a huge difference. Football in South Africa is very competitive as there are quality players here and it’s all about speed and skill here. But I am happy I managed to adapt. I’m familiar with everything and I’m fine.
MQ: Before joining Bloemfontein Celtic in 2019, how much did you know about the PSL and has everything happened the way you expected? SM: I think everything has happened the way I expected because I remember before I came to Bloemfontein Celtic, I had been following South African football. I had been following the league and I was watching every single game whenever I had a chance to. Before I joined Celtic, I played in the COSAFA Cup for Lesotho and I remember how confident I was in those games as I was feeling ready as someone who had always wanted to play in South Africa so that the PSL could be a stepping stone for me, so to speak. I did very well for my national team and I was scoring goals, and that led to me getting the attention of many people, including the agents. Agents were coming to me and telling me how well I was doing and how they thought I could do well in a bigger and better league, and that made me to realise that it was time for me to look for a new challenge. After the COSAFA Cup in Durban, where I was scoring goals, Ntate (Ernest) Mokoena, who is now my agent, got interested in working with me and that’s when he took me to Celtic.
MQ: We understand that you were first made to attend trials before you were signed by the club.
SM:
Okay, I remember now that before I went to Celtic, I first attended trials at Free State Stars, but I didn’t succeed there. Ntate Mokoena then organised for me to go for trials at Celtic under coach Lehlohonolo Seema and 9
Hunters FC (amateur), it took five days for the club to decide that I would be on the list of shortlisted players. But I remember that on the first day of the trials, there were about 50 players who were there to look for opportunities and the club needed five players but didn’t tell us. We were five players from Lesotho until the secondlast day of the open trials when three of my countrymen were eliminated from the list. The club decided on the five players they needed after we played a practice game with the first team of Celtic. It was me, Siphelele Luthuli, Sifiso Ngobeni, who is now playing for Mamelodi Sundowns, Tumiso Mogakwe and Aviwe Nyamende. That’s when we joined the team for pre-season training, although we were told that we were still under assessment. We were later signed after playing some friendly matches and did well in training.
MQ: You had scored four goals in 11 league matches for the club in your first season before the PSL went into a break due to the Coronavirus outbreak. What did you think of such a start?
SM: I was very happy because I had been given an opportunity to play in the PSL and I’ve always wanted to play in this league, like I said. But let me be honest and tell you that I was kind of nervous in the beginning. I remember that I didn’t play in the first game of the season because my work permit had not yet been ready, but I still watched the game and I was trying to learn about the league and the defenders and the way of playing in this league. My first game in the PSL was against Baroka FC, which was followed by a Sundowns game and I scored a penalty in that game. My first start in the PSL was against SuperSport United and I scored in that game. I scored again in the following game, which was against Highlands Park. We played against Maritzburg United in the next game and I scored again.
MQ: Whose decision was it for you to take a penalty in your second game and against a big team like Downs?
SM: It was my decision because I always took penalties during training sessions. I always scored penalties in practice and that’s where I got my confidence from. During that game, I went in at around 80 minutes and we were losing 2-0 when we got the penalty. I just saw myself going into the box and straight to the ball, which I picked and kicked it from the penalty spot. I remember that before I took the penalty, Ronald Pfumbidzai came to me and told me that he wanted to take the penalty and I told him to leave it. (Ndumiso) Mabena intervened and told him, “Leave the young man to take the penalty.”
MQ: As someone who grew up watching the PSL, which team did you support?
SM: (Laughs) Everyone in my family supports Kaizer Chiefs, except for only my mother, who is an Orlando Pirates supporter. From a young age, I had been supporting Chiefs.
MQ: Talking of Pirates, you were linked with the club before you signed with Celtic. What happened?
SM: I was still playing in Lesotho at the time and I had an assessment organised for me at Pirates, but I didn’t succeed. For the week that I was there, I trained with the first team once and I spent the rest of it training with the MDC (MultiChoice, now DStv Diski Challenge) team before I went back to Lesotho.
MQ: Was it because you were still young that you ended up training with the reserve team there?
SM: Maybe that’s what they thought of me, but I was ready and that’s why I went there in the first place.
MQ: Were you disappointed that you did not get enough chance to train with the Bucs first team?
SM:
I was very disappointed. I was thinking that maybe we were not meant to play for the big teams in the PSL as Basotho (people from Lesotho) and I was so confused.
MQ: When you signed with Celtic, did you see it as an opportunity to prove a point to the Soweto giants that they made a mistake by not giving you a chance?
SM:
“On the first day of the trials, there were about 50 players.”
Not necessarily to prove a point to Pirates… I just wanted a platform so that people could see who Sera Motebang is. For me, it was about showcasing my talent and not to prove a point to Pirates. At that stage, I had even forgotten about Pirates and had moved on from that. I just wanted people to see me scoring goals because I love scoring goals. There is nothing I love the most about football than scoring goals.
MQ: You said you spent some time studying defenders. Do you have any one of them who gives you sleepless nights in the PSL?
SM:
(Thinks for a while) The only defender who comes to mind because of how clever he is and who even gave me problems at Celtic in training because of the way he plays is Wandisile Letlabika. Yho, that guy is very clever. He’s got the ability to read anyone’s mind and be able to anticipate their movements.
MQ: Overall, how was your time with Phunya Sele Sele?
SM:
I enjoyed playing for the team and the supporters, and management were good to us as the players. It was amazing and the best experience for me. The support from the supporters was the best thing to have ever happened to me. The supporters loved me and that’s what kept me going. Celtic supporters loved all their players and that’s what I loved about them, and they will always have a special place in my heart. I still love them and I miss them so much.
MQ: Let’s now talk about your time at Royal AM. Why have you not been playing regularly?
SM:
Eish, I don’t know how I can answer you on that one, my brother. I don’t know why I’ve not been playing because I’ve always given my all at training and I never did anything wrong. Sometimes these kinds of moments just come for every footballer and sometimes it doesn’t mean that one is a bad player or something like that. Sometimes it could be that your competitors are doing well and things like that. I’ve been pushing hard at training and doing all the things as required.
MQ: For a player who made 20 appearances under John Maduka at Celtic last season, it is surprising that you haven’t been playing this season. What does he tell you as his reasons for not playing you?
SM:
I’m not the kind of a player who likes to blame coaches when I’m not playing and I don’t like questioning them about it. I just try to push extra hard and try to keep on doing the things that the coach requires from me.
“I don’t know why I’ve not been playing because…”
MQ: What’s it like working under him?
SM:
I’ve always had a good relationship with the coach and there are no hard feelings about anything. He is a great coach who loves his players and he doesn’t discriminate. It’s always been nice to work with him. I still enjoy working under him even if things haven’t been going my way.
To discuss this inter view with Masebe, tweet him on
Matlama FC (both Lesotho), Bloemfontein Celtic Honours: 2019 League winner (with Matlama)