Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
City mascot a footy Pavarotti
Videos of Mateo, 7, singing soccer anthems with players are all the rage
MATEO Manousakis is only 7 but he’s one of the more popular figures in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), thanks to his singing.
The Cape Town City Football Club mascot is a fan favourite for his courage to stand between big-name players and sing emotionally-charged songs.
His “ear- worms” include Masambe Nono and Ayaba, popular tunes on the PSL scene.
During a sit- down with Weekend Argus this week at his home in Durbanville, a subdued Mateo described himself as different in the dressing room from when he is singing.
“I started going to the games last year. The players taught me how to sing. My favourite song is Ayaba. I started enjoying singing in the tunnel (before a match),” he said.
When big teams like Kaizer Chiefs come to the Mother City, stars like Siphiwe Tshabalala and Aubrey Ngoma have invited him into their locker room to lead them in song.
He’s become quite the internet sensation since then.
“I feel good when I sing; I feel like I’ve got the power and don’t want to let go. I just want to carry on.
“When I sing alongside the players, I see happiness in them. When they sing, it makes me feel like we are going to win,” he said.
Mateo recalls the moment Tshabalala called him to sing for the Kaizer Chiefs team in the dressing room as his most memorable. He was recently seen on TV having a conversation with log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns’s coach, Pitso Mosimane.
“I was teaching him how to sing,” he said, with a sparkle in his eyes.
Mateo sings songs that unite the players in team spirit. He is more famous than his father Vasili, who is the club’s assistant coach, and fans often stop them to request pictures.
“I feel good when people want to take pictures with me. It means I have a lot of fans,” he said.
Vasili, explaining how Mateo became the club’s mascot, said the youngster had sneaked in during a team-talk meeting in the dressing room before a big game. City players embraced him and started teaching him how to sing. He is also learning how to speak Xhosa from some of the players.
He is known for leading famous PSL players in igwijo (the songs sung in locker rooms) in videos that have gone viral on social media and his love for singing is clearly contagious.
At one point in the interview, his little brother Leandro, 5, who fancies himself a better singer than Mateo, broke into song.
His wish is for more children to go out to watch live games “because it is an amazing experience”.
“But they should leave the singing to me; it’s my job.”
Mateo, whose love of the PSL runs deep, knows the majority of players by name, the numbers they wear and whether they’re from big or fringe clubs.
Since the moment Mateo found Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates were available on his PlayStation, he stopped using console favourites Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Vasili said his City mascot son was so attached to the club’s players that during transfer window periods, the boy asked him to convince players not to leave.
“I always tell my dad to convince the players to stay, give them more money to stay,” Mateo said.
Cape Town City face Bidvest Wits in PSL action at Athlone Stadium at 6pm tonight.