I can also create my own legacy
We pay to see of Themba Jomo Sono – Former Bafana
Themba Zwane recently celebrated 10 years as a PUMA-endorsed athlete, having entered into a sponsorship agreement with the German sportswear manufacturer back in 2012. Mshishi, as he is affectionately known, is one of the mosticonic current footballers, compared to D octor K humalo by legendary former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker long before he started collecting trophies
atMamelodiSundowns – talk abouta player who has truly lived up to his promise. Recently, the 74-year-old brand invited a handful of currentand former players to share in the Tembisa-born star’s historic milestone at the PUMA store in Braamfontein, and Soccer Laduma was in attendance. Itwas, indeed, a beautiful day in which the midfield schemer was lavished with praise by coaches, teammates and legends alike. In this revealing feature, Zwane is seen through the eyes of those who know him best.
Intelligence and humility are next-door neighbours Manqoba Mngqithi – Mamelodi Sundowns senior coach
“Before one becomes a footballer, he is someone else’s child and when we see the personality and the character of a man, it also says something about the people that gave birth to that child. I’ve been with Themba now at Sundowns for eight years. His humility is second to none. You would say that he is quiet, but I don’t think he’s as quiet as people may say, but I just want to believe ukuthi (that) he is so humble and for me, when I see a person that is humble, I already know that there is a sign that the person is intelligent because intelligence and humility are next-door neighbours and arrogance and ignorance are also next-door neighbours. So, for me, Themba comes out in football as a very intelligent player, but what (has) sustained him is his humility. He is dedicated to the game and he is dedicated to each and every aspect of his game, not only on matchday. Themba Zwane, it’s a secret we were talking about the other day because some players do extra training to a point of getting injured sometimes, and it was a concern that when they are injured, they must come back to the club for the club to treat them, but we don’t know what really troubled them. But in our arguments, I remember I said that we are fighting the wrong guys. The guys who do extra training are the guys who want it the most and are more dedicated than others. W hat we need to talk about is guiding what happens in these extra sessions that they are having instead of looking at these extra sessions as things that must be scrapped because players are getting injured, and we don’t even know what they are doing or whoever is training them. In that talk, I made mention of Themba, surwas prisingly, and he not there. I said if we were talking about stopping extra training, you might as well say you no longer want a player like Themba because all his life he believes extra training is what carries him to be what he is. And the truth is, there are very few players in football, paid the money that they are paid, but who are willing to go an extra mile and make sure that I have my extra work to make sure that I keep myself as sharp as posfootball sible. For one to be in for all these years and every year, he makes a huge impact. There is no way we can say that this season Themba was not around. And with God’s grace, he is hardly injured. But the truth of the matter is that he is one of those players that when something good happens to him, you always, as a father-figure, wish even more because you don’t have any dark spots that you say, ‘W hy is it not going to so-and-so instead of him?’ If Themba is the Player of the Season, as a father figure, I am not a coach at that time. As a brother, I say he deserves it because he gives his heart and his life to the game. Themba is a guy that works very hard in football and has achieved whatever he has achieved because he works very hard and the strange part is, usually talented players like Themba are not the ones to work very hard, and that bears testimony that talent alone is not good enough. Because there are many players that are talented, but they could not have a staying power. After one, two or three seasons they are out. Very few players like Bra J (Jomo Sono), like Teko (Modise), like Hlompho (Kekana), Doctor Khumalo. W e can give a long list of players that were very talented, but they also stayed longer because they also did a little bit more.”
Keep dribbling them, never stop! Denis Onyango – Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper
“It’s amazing because personally, knowing Themba for the last 12 or 13 years, besides his good football, he is a great person and I think that’s why PUMA has managed to stay with him this long because he has no issues. W henever there is something for PUMA, he is always available. I was not surprised (to hear) that he has been with the brand this long and that also compliments his football because we used to call him the road runner. He gives everything, he runs, he is not shy to run on the road and put in the extra work. But that adds up to his game because he is talented, he needs to fill up the engine. So, he has been doing a great job and I hope that he gives Sundowns five or six more years because he plays the music for the club. As a great footballer and the great person that he is, I think he’s got a lot more years to come with PUMA and the club, and I think he has a lot to offer to the game of football and the youngsters coming learn a lot from him – humility. Looking at the way they said he is the one who pushed for the young players to get a contract with PUMA, it shows how good he is and how he is a great person because sometimes we tend to hold back (and say) let me be the only one to have the PUMA brand, but if he allows the other brothers to have the same brand, it shows that he is a good person. Keep going and keep dribbling them, never stop!”
the likes Zwane Bafana coach
“W ords fail me because I have seen him grow. I used to watch him in Tembisa, he knows. Your secret, for any footballer, you have to be humble. I was at Marks Park… normally when I scout, I sit in my car and I hide. I don’t go out and Themba was standing in front of my car. He didn’t even see me and, all of a sudden, a few people ca m e and started talking to him and I wanted to see what he was going to do. He stood there and he spoke to those p eople… and that’s his secret. He wouldn’t be here if he was big-headed because the life of a soccer player is very short. The curtain goes. All I can say to Themba is that being with us at PUMA, you can only leave a legacy. To have these guys around here is an honour and for me to speak (here) is an honour. T hemba plays the football that we played. W e pay to see the likes of Themba Zwane. For me, watching this kid play football and growing, it has been amazing. I think the coaches also deserve some credit because he has got good coaches around him. These guys have done a wonderful job.”
Now let’s hear from the horse’s mouth…
“First of all, I just wanna thank the PUMA guys for doing a special thing for me and what I can say is that it shows the relationship is natural, it’s not being forced because we have managed to work together for 10 years and what I like about them is the level of how they treat their athletes, with respect. There is discipline, the way they communicate with the guys, it’s on another level. I just appreciate working with them and thanks for signing me out of nowhere because PUMA is a big brand. So, I just wanna thank them. PUMA is a big brand and these are the kind of things that push me. I know what people that are with PUMA, like Doctor Khumalo, Jomo
Sono, did and I also want to be in the same category. They did well when they were playing, but I can also create my own future and legacy. It’s
very important that I conduct myself well because I want to show the younger players how you must handle yourself when you are a professional player. So, that’s all I’ve wanted to do throughout my career, be a good example to the youngsters.”