I failed at Chiefs, fine, but…

“I don’t know if it’s our culture or it’s how the people here think.”

while, Lunga bro. Adam: What in Killer, the world it’s are been you a up to?

Katlego Mphela: Ja, at the moment I’ve been home and spending time with my family. I’ve been doing some community work and some projects here and there, so I’ve been busy. Sometimes I try to keep fit in the ABC Motsepe League with Pretoria Callies. I’m not really registered with the team, though, as I train with them just to keep fit.

LA: So, have you retired from professional football?

KM: I don’t know if I’ve retired or not, but for me, it was just, ‘Never mind. If something comes up, it comes up. If nothing comes up, it’s still cool.’ And, you know, sometimes when you get to a certain age, you are not considered like… here at home, when you are like more than 30 or something, you are not considered good enough to play in the elite league.

LA: Are you then getting the feeling that the game of football you have given so much to is turning its back on you on the basis of your age?

KM: Ja, but (it’s) not only (happening) with me… I can see it with other players. I can count those players who don’t have teams and have not announced their retirement. I don’t know their reasons why they don’t have teams. I spend time with Tsepo Masilela and he’s also keeping fit. There’s also Katlego Mashego and Siboniso Gaxa, who haven’t announced their retirement. You’ve got a lot of good players who don’t have teams, but maybe it’s because of their age, I don’t know…

LA: Should it not be a case of ‘the older they are, the more valuable they are’ though?

KM: You’re talking in terms of playing? LA: Yes.

KM: It’s confusing. I don’t know if it’s our culture or it’s how the people here think. I watch teams from Europe and they have these guys who are still playing at the highest level and the level there is higher than the PSL. I don’t know if it’s a case of age or it’s a case of how teams want to play, but I feel like there are still a lot of guys who’ve got good quality and they can guide the youngsters. They can be managed as well – they don’t have to play all the games. It happens everywhere. It amazes me why it’s not happening in South Africa.

LA: But do you feel you still have something to offer?

KM: All I know is that I can score goals. In terms of how a team would want me to play, I don’t know, because teams have different tactics; coaches have different tactics and styles. But what I know is that I believe in what I’ve been doing. I can score goals, that’s all. I can offer something, especially if you look at our league now. I don’t know if it’s a problem of quality or what… how many goals does the leading goalscorer have right now?

LA: Sixteen, with one round of fixtures to play.

KM: This has been going on for about four or five seasons now. So, if I look at my abilities and I see these kinds of things, I believe that I can score those 16 goals. It’s just a matter of getting the rhythm, getting back to the normal routine.

LA: What’s going wrong in our striking department as a country then?

KM: I’ve worked with coaches before and all of them would say the same thing, that, “We don’t have time to work with strikers.”

I mean, it’s your job, you have to work with them. Even overseas they do it… they have coaches for those departments they feel they’re lacking. It also comes from development and we need to develop strikers from a younger age, and it has to come with the ability and the natural talent. I think I was a natural talent. Benni (McCarthy) was a natural talent. Some guys were developed, you know. We must have a mixture of that and try to help our strikers. Not only them, but even the guys who are going to pass or cross them the ball. It’s a lot of work. I’ve heard coaches say they don’t have time for that because these guys are professional and they’re getting paid. Yes, they are getting paid and that’s their job, so make them work extra. Make them stay behind. Make them come early. Make them train twice. Because they’ll get it (right) in the game and it’s going to be a habit. But we’ve been talking about this forever. Now we are relying on talent and it’s difficult. That’s why we take time to score goals. LA: Sure.

KM: I check out these other leagues in Europe and those guys score goals on a regular basis, but they don’t score goals because they can score goals – it’s because they train and work on it. Here, when they talk about extra training, they talk about going to the gym or running the whole day, but our players don’t need that because, naturally, we are one of the fittest football nations. We have skill and speed. Let’s focus on our finishing. It’s going to work. With the Bafana Bafana strikers currently playing in Europe, you can see now the quality is there. We have Percy Tau, we have the guy who’s playing in France for the team I was playing for (Lebo Mothiba). You still have guys who are not playing, like Dino Ndlovu and the white guy they called up from Holland (Lars Veldwijk). So, we have the quality now. I’m not saying we don’t have the quality in the PSL, but if you compare those guys to those playing here at home, you can see who’s better. Even the leading goalscorer (Mwape Musonda) now is from Zambia, neh? Maybe if we can try to get a lot of our guys overseas, we’ll stand a chance to

compete with other big nations.

LA: You last featured for Royal Eagles in the National First Division, whom you left in the 2016/17 campaign. What happened there?

KM: What happened is that I got injured. I had a good first season with them, after signing for 12 months. We did well and missed out (on promotion) because we had lots of injuries in the team. My recovery took longer than anticipated and then they signed other players. The next season, they decided to let us go. But you can see how things are at the club – they do that to everyone. Since then, nothing came up. After that, I tried my luck in Asia, but a move couldn’t happen. LA: Why? KM: When I went over there, I hadn’t been playing enough, as I had just gotten back from the long-term injury that I told you about. They were happy about me and they could see I have quality, but they needed someone immediately, someone who was fitter. Those leagues, they run, hey. They said, “We like you a lot. Just try to get yourself fit and if there’s a space, we will call you again.”

LA: Looking at your achievements in the game, your current situation would be enough to drive a lot of players into a state of bitterness and resentment.

KM: I’m not bitter. I’m not a bitter person. But, like I said to you before, it’s confusing because I watch a lot of European soccer and I see how they treat their legends there, you know. If they don’t want you to play anymore, they keep you around. But, again, like I said, it’s not only happening with me. I can count guys who played for Bafana Bafana who are not playing now, so it’s like it’s a norm. I just try to move on with my life and try to control the things I can control. Some things are beyond my control. But maybe because we are also not out there, that’s why. But when it comes to our generation, from the (2009) Confederations Cup to the (2010) World Cup, I don’t think it’s supposed to be like that. We were

It may be difficult to get hold of Katlego Mphela at times, but when the former Bafana Bafana number one striker settles down to a comfortable position to give you his time and thoughts, he makes it worth all the chase. Few are more outspoken. Seeing it has been so quiet about him, and with the risk of his name being relegated to the dustbin as with so many before him, Soccer Laduma’s Lunga Adam decided to give the 34-year-old a ring once and for all. Has his football career reached a point of no return? What happened at Kaizer Chiefs? How come hopes of a revival at Royal Eagles fell flat? Read on to find out the answers to these questions, as well as more of his thoughts on a range of topics.

supposed to be recognized. It’s confusing, but I’m not bitter. LA: Okay. But you didn’t cover yourself in glory at your two previous clubs, failing to score goals as consistently as you used to at Mamelodi Sundowns. Strikers are judged on the number of goals they score and perhaps some out there think you’re past your sell-by date. KM: Ja, but at Kaizer Chiefs I was coming back as well. It happens. It happens to everyone. You can get used to a certain environment and then go to another environment and things don’t work out, but it doesn’t mean you are a bad player. Things just didn’t work out. It happens to the best of the best in the world. You just have to move on. When I left Chiefs, I went to Eagles and did well, so no problem. Maybe because Chiefs is a big team, that’s the thing. If you tell me that I failed at Chiefs, it’s fine. But I can also come back to you and say let’s go back before my time at Chiefs and check my career stats. Compare that with my time at Chiefs and tell me that, all of a sudden, I became a bad striker! LA: If you didn’t become a bad striker, then what happened because you just didn’t live up to expectations at the Soweto giants? KM: You’ll remember that when I joined Chiefs, I hadn’t been playing enough at Sundowns. I got there and they already had Kingston Nkhatha, Knowledge Musona, Siphelele Mthembu and Matthew Rusike. Those guys had been together for about two years and won trophies with Stuart Baxter. I was still trying to get my fitness back, you know, but because of the pressure, the coach had to put me in. I think I did well – you can check my ratio, it’s not bad. After the pre-season, we played in the MTN8 and when I scored against Platinum Stars, I got injured at the same time and I had to put a metal thing on my foot. That was it. That was the final straw. It took me almost a year to recover. But people wouldn’t know such things, as all they want to see is you playing on the field. And this is not an excuse. Injuries happen and I had injury after injury. I was also confused and asking myself, “Why is all this happening?” because I came back and got another one. Came back and got another one. Maybe it was a question of fitness sometimes, where you try to push yourself and you break your body, especially when you get to a certain age. I also learned that the pressure at Chiefs is different to other clubs. The expectations are higher there and you have to push yourself. All in all, it was a good experience for me. Chiefs is a great club, run in a professional way and they treat their players well – it just didn’t work out. I was excited to join Chiefs because, growing up, my whole family supported Chiefs. As much as I did it at other club, it was like a dream come true for me to play for Chiefs, but it just didn’t work out.

LA: You famously reportedly missed the club’s end-of-season awards ceremony after the 2014/15 campaign.

KM: To be honest, I think I could have handled it better. I missed the ceremony. By the time I was coming back from where I was, I thought I was going to make it in time, but it was late. They took that thing seriously and that’s where we agreed to part ways. But we parted amicably; no one was fighting with anyone. I still meet with Bobby (Motaung – football manager) – he’s a good guy and friend.

LA: What do you mean you “could have handled it better”?

KM: I’m saying if I had left where I was on time, I was going to make the awards. I left late. I was home.

LA: Let’s move on. As with any footballer, you’ve experienced highs and lows. Happy with how your career’s gone?

KM: No, no, I’m very happy with my career. I still meet people in the street and they tell me about the goals I’ve

scored and how they’d never seen such goals. If I had stayed overseas, maybe I wasn’t going to play in the World Cup. I came back home, I did well, I represented the country, I played against top, top opponents. To be honest, I enjoyed my football until I got injured and things didn’t go my way. I also played in the AFCON, which was great. LA: What’s it like carrying the hopes of a whole nation on your shoulder?

KM: It’s amazing! It’s amazing! It’s amazing! You miss that feeling of representing your country when you sit at home and look at some of the clips. The crowds, the opponents we played against… it was amazing. The feeling was out of this world. You don’t feel it when you are doing it, but after you’ve done it, you’re like, “Tjo, that was something else!” and you miss it again. The pressure was huge, though, especially as a striker and the team was not doing well. You know, people were always crying about goals and not scoring enough, and there you are, representing the country and they depend on you to score goals. You try to do your best. To have that kind of pressure on your shoulders, you must be something else.

LA: Chiefs and Orlando Pirates fans sometimes gave you a hard time…

KM: Yeah, that was the thing. That was the problem. I play for Sundowns and here I am, representing the country, and most of the football supporters in this country are either Chiefs or Pirates. It’s always the case that they will try and compare you with their (team’s) striker, but it happens everywhere. For me, it was a challenge and I enjoyed it. If you check my goals, I always scored when I was booed. Funnily enough, when you meet these people in the street, they respect you. It was just part of the game.

LA: In those days, if ever Pitso Mosimane started a WhatsApp group, the first person he’d add is you.

KM: Ha, ha, ha. Before the Confederations Cup, they called all these players for a camp. By then I wasn’t even playing at Sundowns, but he called

me up. I was surprised and, when I got there, he told me, “I’ve got a lot of faith in you and I feel you can do well in this tournament, but you still have to fight for your position.” We stayed for six weeks in camp, together with the likes of Siyabonga Nkosi, who was then playing in Germany. There were all these top players. I went on to do well and that was because of Pitso. It didn’t even start there. It started when I was in France (at Strasbourg) and I wasn’t playing there. I didn’t know how this guy knew me because I wasn’t known back then. The guy contacted me and said, “You know what, come home, come play for me at SuperSport United.” I came back and did well there. That’s where our relationship started. We worked together in the national team and, at Sundowns, things didn’t work out because of the contract negotiations. Our marriage ended there because I had to go to Chiefs. But I still hold him in high regard because he helped me a lot in my career and believed in me. If I was going to try and go into coaching, I think he’s the only person I’d love to learn from.

LA: Would you say your Sundowns spell was a good one?

KM: It was a rollercoaster. When I joined them, they had all these top players, like Sibusiso Zuma, Collins Mbesuma and Benedict Vilakazi, and I was still trying to make a name for myself. Before the Confederations Cup, I was supposed to go on loan or something. But after I scored against Spain, a new coach came in, Hristo Stoichkov, and I thought I was still not going to play. He said to me, “I came here now during pre-season and it’s the first time I meet you. I’ve already met all the guys. But I believe you want to leave.” I said, “Yes, I want to leave because I wasn’t playing before I left (for the national team).” He told me, “No, listen, I’m going to plan my team around you.” I was like, “Huh? Wow!” He said “Yes, I need a striker like you. I saw you playing in the national team. I like you a lot.” I stayed and that was the season I scored lots of goals. Because he was a top striker in his playing days as well, he helped me a lot and believed in me. I could go five games without scoring and he would say, “No problem. It happens. As long as you play well, you’ll score again.” I then began scoring goals regularly, and that’s when I cemented my place in the national team. LA: Great. Any last words? KM: I’d like to thank everyone who’s supported me throughout my career. I’m not sure if I’m going to play again. Thanks to all the coaches, all the players I’ve played with and even the people who still believe in me and want to see me on the field. Thanks to everyone who’s been part of my career and the chairmen of the teams I’ve played for. I’d also like to say congratulations to Bafana for qualifying to Egypt. I believe this is one of the best squads we’ve ever had since 1996. When I watch them, there’s something different about them and we’re lucky because most of them play overseas and they’re still young. You can see they are willing to learn, and they must just keep it up and make the nation proud there. Hopefully we’ll see another generation that will lift the AFCON or qualify for the World Cup.

LA: Killer, after such a long time not gracing Soccer Laduma’s pages, you really provided our readers and the South African football fraternity with some points to ponder. Thank you so much for your time and we hope you don’t retire just yet.

KM: Okay, thank you, Sir. I don’t know when last I had an interview, hey. I’ll let you know when something comes up on my side. ❐

“I’m not bitter. I’m not a bitter person. ” “I’m not sure if I’m going to play again.”