The 2020/21 season shall remain the most memorable season for AmaZulu and Bafana Bafana star, Veli Mothwa. Mothwa came close to winning PSL award for goalkeeper of the season and was beaten to the prize by Denis Onyango. It has been a fairytale season for him, after failing to earn the trust of the them Chippa United coach Dan Malesela. Veli joined AmaZulu with little hope for game time. Siyabonga Mbatha, whom has recently moved to cross-town rival Golden Arrows, was the club’s number 1. Veli was coming in as a back up. His hard work and dedication worked wonders for him. First, he had to dethrone Mbatha, and later earned himself a place in the Bafana team.
His goalkeeper coach, legendary Moeneeb Josephs believes Veli had it in him to be great. He believes the player’s background could be an extrinsic motivation for his excellent performances. “I come from Mitchel’s Plain, Veli doesn’t come from the suburbs. [So] what happens if you come from there and you suddenly come to a place where you see all lights and stuff? You’re not confident. [you feel] do I belong here? What I do is, I make you believe you belong here. If you believe you belong here, anything is possible, no matter what your circumstances. Remember, our circumstances doesn’t determine our destination. It is what we want, and that what one believes that anything is possible just be confident and be strong mentally.”
Josephs believes players should maximize the opportunity given to them to play professionally because some, just like him, may have nothing academically to fall back on. “We are all bread winners here. We come from ekasie. We know when one of us works, we feed our families. We represent our families here”.
Footballers in the country have developed a notorious behaviour off the field, especially on social media platforms where they appear to have over enjoyed themselves and forgot about taking care of their craft. Josephs on the other hand goes an extra mile and monitors his number 1 goalkeepers social media behaviour and says, “I have been laughing at Veli’s posts on Instagram now, because he’s posting mad stuff, and I told him, Veli, don’t put these stuff now. Because at the end of the day, these people that are building you up, when you’re getting too big for them, they going to think, ‘Veli look at these stupid things that you posted’. That’s how I want to protect him from that as well. But those are all little things for the next season that are going to work for him. I don’t think he’s just a national team quality, I think he’s more than that for one reason only. He comes to training every day to wanting to learn. If you want to learn, that’s how you going to improve. But, if your cup is full, that’s how you going to stay static.”
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