Bafana's most capped: me and Aaron "The Axe" Mokoena |
WHEN Stuart Baxter leads Kaizer Chiefs out at the Moses
Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon to reclaim further glory for South Africa’s
biggest football club, Aaron Mokoena will be smiling broadly.
It was the record-breaking international defender who might
just have saved the British boss’s bacon early in the season when times were
hard.
Mokoena, the former Ajax, Blackburn and Portsmouth
centre-back now at Bidvest Wits, told me this morning: “I love Stewy. When he
was Bafana Bafana coach a decade ago he made me his captain. I knew then he was
a top manager. He had all kinds of plans but they wouldn’t back him.
“So when things were getting difficult for Stuart early in
the season, I made a call to Jessica Motaung (daughter of club owner Kaizer and
the AmaKhosi’s marketing director). I told her ‘Give Baxter some time, he will
come good.’ Now here he is, on the verge of winning the double.”
So did Mbazo save Baxter from the axe? The opening 4-1
defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns, coming on top of questions over the man from
Wolverhampton’s CV, may well have led to serious trouble. But after Mokoena’s
call, Chiefs went from strength to strength, crushing AmaZulu in their opening
PSL clash and going on to win their first championship in eight years.
On Saturday Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport will attempt to derail
Baxter’s bid for the double but Mokoena grins: “I’ve got to go with Chiefs. I
know they’ve been on a poor run on the finishing stretch (two defeats and four
draws in their last six saw Platinum Stars and Orlando Pirates snapping at
their heels until the final week) but they’ll
be up for it.”
Mokoena himself, aged 32 and with a record 107 South Africa
caps to his name, has seen it all. A 15-year career which started at Jomo
Cosmos and swept across Holland, Germany, Belgium and England may not end in back
South Africa.
Mbazo, who played 23 times for fourth-placed Wits this season
reveals: “I’m actually flying to the USA next week, there have been inquiries –
but I may stay at Wits for one more year.”
With Hunt reported to be heading to Wits, Mokoena reveals: “There
are big things happening at the club. Antonio Habas was a great coach at the
start of the season – very tough, but I like that – Clive Barker was a good
caretaker. But next season we might be up there, serious contenders.
“Whatever happens, I’ve loved it. Amsterdam, Blackburn,
Portsmouth… I used to commute from Wilmslow in Manchester to the south coast of
England every day!
“And my favourite story is that one you wrote before the
World Cup, about my mum dressing me up as a girl to protect me during the
Boipatong troubles when I was a kid.
“But now? The traffic in Johannesburg! I was twenty minutes
late for my chat on eTV Sunrise this morning, even in a Hummer!”
Sold a dummy: me and Chester Missing at eTV Sunrise this morning! |
Chill Mbazo chill... You saved nobody none alright?
ReplyDeletesmh nigga wants to retire under Baxter... Sweet talking his way to Chiefs... His call can't have made any difference
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