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| Photo by Zweli Ndhlovu |
I came across a Dave Minchella tweet asking which players we had forgotten about. The names that came up under that thread brought back memories of the players I used to go crazy over, anticipating the day they got their chance at the South African National Team “Bafana Bafana” and showed the world the amazing talent we know we have.
What PSL footballers did you nearly forget about from days gone by? I recalled Clifford Ngobeni - highly rated Ajax Cape Town prospect who went to Pirates. Disappeared off the scene so quickly.— David Minchella (@David_Minchella) July 12, 2018
Naturally, with names that bring nostalgia, the question of what happened to those players is asked.
“They had so much potential…till this day no player had his talent...” Those type of thoughts starts to go through your head as you scroll through all these players, Sipho Nunes, Rene Richards, Calvin Sibeko and a lot more that could have done amazing things in football.
There is some whose potential was hampered by injuries and football politics (being blackballed unfortunately exists in our sports).
Then there are others whose destruction was the result of life choices which to a degree we blame the clubs and association for not educating enough. When the truth is most of these players were not dedicated to their craft, which is being footballers.
I’m not talking about showing up for the job (practice and games) but spending time actually trying to perfect their craft. Most of these players really ever put effort into their craft when they are trying to crack the professional levels, after that, they seem to just want to punch in time and leave like this is not something they grew up wanting to do.
Perfecting a craft is more than trying to copy your idol because it looks cool when you watch them do but understanding the need to have a certain skill and mastering it until you can do it in your sleep.
Most of the players who fell away too early all share a common thread of not being dedicated to holistically improving their skill. Players never take the initiative to see how far their potential could get them, they rely on the coaches to do all that heavy lifting. But those coaches aren’t the ones who go out on the field.
I understand, there is some role football associations, leagues along with coaches need to play of which they are not playing currently to a satisfactory level, but it is still up to the players to take their game to unimaginable heights.
