Ngoma to bring new dimension to Downs
When Keagan Dolly left South Africa to join French side Montpellier about a year ago, Pitso Mosimane was left scratching his head wondering who he could lure to Chloorkop to fill the void left behind by the talented Bafana Bafana international.
In August last year, Mosimane signed George Lebese from Kaizer Chiefs – an acquisition that could be easily described as makeshift, as Lebese’s pace contrasts with the Brazilians’ more explosive approach and still proves to hinder his progress at the club.
Aubrey Ngoma’s arrival promises to provide what Downs have been missing over the past year – a pacey, skilful, natural leftwinger. However, Ngoma insists he did not join the former African champions to replace anyone.
“I am different player to Keagan,” Ngoma said politely. “I am not here to replace anyone. I think I am here to create my own legacy and my own history with the club. I am not even focused on replacing anyone because Sundowns have played a lot of games now without Keagan and they have been winning.
“I don’t think there is any player at the moment who I should be thinking of replacing because I come in as a different player to what was here before and I am looking forward to that when I leave – that I leave a good legacy in the history of the club,” he added.
Mosimane has continuously stated that unless you are a goalkeeper at Sundowns, you will not necessarily play in the same position all the time. His demanding character will redeploy you anywhere on the pitch. Ngoma says he is well aware of the never-ending positional shifts and promises to adapt well.
“I am fortunate that I can play all the positions across the midfield and wherever the coach might play me. I am willing to take that challenge and play. At the end of the day it will be a position I have played in before across the midfield.
“The fact he knows what his players can deliver on the field makes a coach who is very demanding to be able to convert you to be a good player because he doesn’t want you to rest on your laurels.”
Apart from Ngoma’s ambition to win the league title, part of his biggest motivation to leave a Cape Town City side where he was almost guaranteed to play whenever fit and join a star-studded
Masandawana outfit, is to compete on the grandest stage of them all in African club football – the Caf Champions League.
“It is very motivating that I am here to play for a club that wants to win every competition they participate in,” he said.
“It has always been a dream of mine to win the league playing in the PSL, Downs are giving me that opportunity. It is a club that wants to win the league every season and at the moment we are at the top of the table so it is an opportunity for us to make sure we don’t allow anyone to overtake us.
“We have seen what they have done in previous years. They went on to play in the Fifa Club World Cup and that is my ambition. I want to win titles because as footballers we are judged on the titles we win.”