It’s been a long wait for Celtic
Tignyemb keen to repeat 2012 heroics
Bloemfontein Celtic last won a trophy when they grabbed the Telkom Knockout title in December 2012 in KwaZulu-Natal.
For Phunya Sele Sele goalkeeper and captain Patrick Tignyemb, this has been “too long”, but the team is in another Ziwa Mo final – they face Bidvest Wits at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu tomorrow (6pm kickoff).
So much has changed at Celtic since their triumph at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. At the time, they beat Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 through a controversial goal credited to Botswana’s Joel Mogorosi. Sundowns dismissed Dutchman Johan Neeskens a day after the final and was replaced by Pitso Mosimane, who remains in charge of the Brazilians today.
Back to Celtic. They were coached by Clinton Larsen when they won the cup, but now Serbian mentor Veselin Jelusic is at the helm.
In terms of their playing personnel, only Tignyemb and Jacky Motshegwa remain in the set-up. In fact, Motshegwa had left the club and only returned this season, so that means Tignyemb – the reliable Cameroonian – is the only squad member to have stuck it out with Celtic since that final.
Understandably, the 32-year-old is desperate to help dust off Celtic’s trophy cabinet by bringing home the Telkom Knockout title.
“I was there in Durban the last time we won this cup and I’m very happy to be playing another final. Personally, it’s a big achievement,” Tignyemb reminisced ahead of the clash against Wits.
He also explained why the team has been delivering under Jelusic, who is new to the PSL scene.
“What has been helping us is the fighting spirit, friendship and good communica- tion. We pray a lot. The coach tells us to ‘go play, enjoy ourselves and whatever happens will happen’, so that kind of thinking is helping us.
“We are going to keep the same spirit [for the final],” Tignyemb added.