36 and 42-year-old ex-Pirates players released
Football careers can’t last forever. Two veteran former Orlando Pirates players have been released in Botswana. Is it time to retire?
Two former Orlando Pirates players have started to look for employment after receiving letters of release from Botwana’s VTM.
SIFISO MYENI AND ROOI MAHAMUTSA CLUBLESS
After spending a season with VTM, Myeni, 36, and Mahamutsa, 42, have been released. The news was confirmed by VTM chairman Vincent Mafuta.
“Look, contracts of all our SA players finished [Mahamutsa & Myeni], and we have since issued release letters,” Mafuta told iDiski Times.
“Having them in the team was such a marvelous thing for us, especially Sifiso Myeni. He gave us something special, he gave us a lot, and he dig deep to assist the team.
“Personally, I won’t mind having him back as part of the technical team or our youth program, which we are working on – this must not sell the idea that he is coming back,” Mafuta added on the former Orlando Pirates winger.
ORLANDO PIRATES STAR ELBOWS SUPERSPORT UNITED PLAYER
Orlando Pirates superstar Patrick Maswanganyi should develop better leadership, says the former Sea Robbers captain Lucky Lekgwathi.
With the MTN8 quarter-final game against SuperSport United locked at 1-1 at the Orlando Stadium, Maswanganyi was seen swinging an elbow on SuperSport United’s Gape Moralo. Luckily for the Orlando Pirates ace, the offiicial only delivered a verbal warning.
According to Lekgwathi, the 26-year-old Maswanganyi should have shown better behaviour to protect his team and his career.
“I think, let me care for him. You know, in football, you make mistakes, and you learn from your mistakes,” Lekgwathi told FARPost.
“I think he was lucky not to have received a red card. So, I believe that for him, it was a learning curve that in football, other people mustn’t intimidate you.
“You know, intimidation can ruin your game or your career. It’s like it’s a cup game, and you get a red card, and the team loses, and the supporters start hating you or booing you. In the end, it’s not going to be good.”
Lekgwathi went on to state that Maswanganyi is a “good player” who boasts “leadership qualities” and needs to lead by example in the field of play.
“He is a good player, and one season, he becomes a senior player, and he has got leadership qualities. So, he must always lead by example,” he added.
“At some point, people were complaining about his showboating. But the good thing about him is that he is showboating on the right position and right time,” the Orlando Pirates legend concluded.
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