Bafana Bafana and AmaZulu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa did not start the 2024/25 season as he might have anticipated.
In September, the 33-year-old made a massive blunder as Uganda held South Africa to a 2-2 draw in Group K of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played at the Orlando Stadium. A couple of days later, he again gifted Polokwane City the winning goal late into the Premier Soccer League outing which led to Usuthu's 2-1 defeat.
The fans in Mzansi did not spare the goalkeeper, they hurled swearing words at him, with a section feeling he is done in the top-level football.
Mothwa has positively taken in the feedback from the supporters, insisting it helped keep him in check. He has further stated that happens in football regardless of the position one plays on the pitch.
Supporters have to pick you – Chaine
“I feel like it’s needed, that pressure. Because if there’s no pressure from the supporters, how will I play? I will play and say, they’re not supporting me, so why not? So, if they’re pushing you, because most of the time, they swear at us,” Chaine told Gagasi FM's Extra Time.
“When you make one mistake, they swear at you. But what do you say in your mind? Do you focus on swearing, or do you take swearing as a positive way of saying that he swore this person? I need to push for him not to swear at me again.
“Even most of the strikers, you know, when they don’t score, they get angry, and then they, maybe when the game is finished, they swear at you. You ask them, ‘Why didn’t you score?’ He says, ‘Ah, you didn’t pass me the ball,'” he added.
“Well, you know those things. He’s going to take it as a good striker to say, ‘I’m going to show him in the match’ and then everyone is celebrating. So I feel that supporters need to do that for us. Even when you’re down, they have to pick you up with an aggressive message.”
Well, Mothwa might not get another Bafana chance in the near future owing to the competitiveness in the department, but he has all to play for at AmaZulu.
