Johannesburg — Kamohelo Mokotjo and Sekhukhune United might have recently joined forces, but they seem to be a match made in heaven as they can both relate to being the ‘underdog’ heading into the Nedbank Cup final.
After captaining the SA U12 team to the title in the Danone Nations finals in France two decades ago, Mokotjo was tipped to become one of South Africa’s finest exports and received plaudits from greats such as Real Madrid and France icon Zinedine Zidane.
Mokotjo lived up to that lofty billing, leaving SuperSport United to play in the Netherlands, England, and US.
After 11 years of carving his name in the history books of clubs such as Feyenoord (Netherlands), Brentford (England) and Cincinnati (US), Mokotjo heeded the call to return home this year.
With his international pedigree, which has seen him capped 23 times, the big three – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – were expected to battle for his signature.
Instead, without breaking a sweat, Sekhukhune landed Mokotjo’s services on a one-and-a-half-year deal, starting from the second half of the season.
The move shocked the football fraternity, but not Mokotjo who knew that he had to crawl before he could run again, especially after being sidelined for a while.
“For me, the important thing was to give myself a challenge. We spoke about underdogs; I have always been an underdog I think – at every team I’ve gone to and national team here,” he said.
“I am someone who likes that title, so for me it was just a challenge to see which level I can get back to. So, I have challenged myself in a lot of ways: mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
“I know a lot of people expected me to make a transfer to one of the big three teams but that wasn’t my expectation because I know where I was coming from injury wise. I only had to prove a point to me.”
Mokotjo hasn’t only proven a point to himself, but to the local football fraternity, that he can make a difference in the team, having been key in Babina Noko’s surge to three honours.
The Limpopo side qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup next season by virtue of being the Nedbank Cup finalists with Orlando Pirates, who’ll represent SA in the Champions League instead.
Moreover, they finished seventh in the league standings to qualify for the MTN8 next season, an incredible achievement that Mokotjo didn’t dream of when he returned to the country.
“No! I was just looking forward to playing some football. Prove that I can get to an optimal level, and I think that by qualifying for three things, I can only feel happy about that,” Mokotjo said.
“It feels good, obviously being back four to five months ago, reaching a cup final, qualifying for Africa and the top eight has really been good.”
And while Babina Noko have battled successfully to get this far in the Nedbank Cup, they’ll duly wear the underdog’s tag against Pirates who’ve already won the MTN8 and finished second in the league.
That doesn’t faze Mokotjo, who knows all about being an underdog. He has encouraged his teammates to enjoy the occasion and let the rest take care of itself.
“I think the underdog tag works for any team and anyone in an environment. But we’ll stick to our principles and enjoy the occasion – hopefully get the best out of it,” Mokotjo said.
The Nedbank Cup final will be played at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
IOL Sport