Tefu Mashamaite’s clean sweep of the PSL’s footballer, players’ player and defender of the season awards completes a remarkable turnaround from a centre-back whose qualities as a Kaizer Chiefs player were being questioned three years ago.
Mashamaite had played in just 12 league games and lost form and confidence under Vladimir Vermezovic in 2011-12. With the arrival of Mulomowandau Mathoho and Morgan Gould, he was transfer-listed but narrowly survived the chop.
The former Wits defender was a much improved player as Chiefs won a league and cup double under Stuart Baxter in 2012-13. Last season he became ever-present in central defence, ahead of Mathoho and Gould. This campaign he became the PSL’s footballer of the season.
“At the end of 2012 we had finished under ‘VV’ with me, Thomas Sweswe and Dominic Isaacs as centre-backs. I was on the transfer list, which luckily didn’t happen for me,” Mashamaite said after the PSL Awards at Sandton Convention Centre on Sunday night.
“Then the team was transformed and we had ‘Tower’ and Morgan come in as the ideal centre-back pairing. But one thing I really worked on was impressing the new coach.
“And in the pre-season camp in Potchefstroom I really wanted to show him I deserved to be part of the team. We had a great season, and right now we are here talking.
“If you’re going to listen to what people think about you then you lose a sense of what you think about yourself.
“I respect people’s opinions. Sometimes a person saying something bad about you can really motivate you to working hard and saying, ‘I just want to prove you wrong’. And it’s days like this when you say, ‘They didn’t give me a chance but here I am’.”
Baxter said he never saw anything in Mashamaite that made people question whether the defender was good enough for Chiefs.
“I just saw his qualities. I think if you let people know their qualities, and show some understanding for their weaknesses, even normal people would get on better together,” the coach said.
“As a coach I always try to give him a clear role so he can channel those qualities into that role. I think Masha’s performance has increased with that understanding of his role.”
Mashamaite’s first live match he attended was the BobSave Superbowl final in 1992 between Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos at FNB Stadium. Asked what that young boy would say to him now, Mashamaite replied: “He would probably give me a big hug, and tell me he’s proud of me. He gave me that hope, gave me that dream. It was a moment of revelation.
“Today I received an award from Lucas Radebe, and he was playing that day. So the ‘little Tefu’ was watching Radebe play and tonight he’s receiving an award from him. It’s one of those things that dreams are made of. Gratitude to my late uncle who bought me that ticket that day.”
The only award Mashamaite missed out on from the four he was nominated for was the MTN8 Last Man Standing prize, won by teammate George Maluleka. The Chiefs defender pocketed a cool R450000 in total for his awards haul.
Critics must eat their words
Mashamaite had played in just 12 league games and lost form and confidence under Vladimir Vermezovic in 2011-12. With the arrival of Mulomowandau Mathoho and Morgan Gould, he was transfer-listed but narrowly survived the chop.
The former Wits defender was a much improved player as Chiefs won a league and cup double under Stuart Baxter in 2012-13. Last season he became ever-present in central defence, ahead of Mathoho and Gould. This campaign he became the PSL’s footballer of the season.
“At the end of 2012 we had finished under ‘VV’ with me, Thomas Sweswe and Dominic Isaacs as centre-backs. I was on the transfer list, which luckily didn’t happen for me,” Mashamaite said after the PSL Awards at Sandton Convention Centre on Sunday night.
“Then the team was transformed and we had ‘Tower’ and Morgan come in as the ideal centre-back pairing. But one thing I really worked on was impressing the new coach.
“And in the pre-season camp in Potchefstroom I really wanted to show him I deserved to be part of the team. We had a great season, and right now we are here talking.
“If you’re going to listen to what people think about you then you lose a sense of what you think about yourself.
“I respect people’s opinions. Sometimes a person saying something bad about you can really motivate you to working hard and saying, ‘I just want to prove you wrong’. And it’s days like this when you say, ‘They didn’t give me a chance but here I am’.”
Baxter said he never saw anything in Mashamaite that made people question whether the defender was good enough for Chiefs.
“I just saw his qualities. I think if you let people know their qualities, and show some understanding for their weaknesses, even normal people would get on better together,” the coach said.
“As a coach I always try to give him a clear role so he can channel those qualities into that role. I think Masha’s performance has increased with that understanding of his role.”
Mashamaite’s first live match he attended was the BobSave Superbowl final in 1992 between Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos at FNB Stadium. Asked what that young boy would say to him now, Mashamaite replied: “He would probably give me a big hug, and tell me he’s proud of me. He gave me that hope, gave me that dream. It was a moment of revelation.
“Today I received an award from Lucas Radebe, and he was playing that day. So the ‘little Tefu’ was watching Radebe play and tonight he’s receiving an award from him. It’s one of those things that dreams are made of. Gratitude to my late uncle who bought me that ticket that day.”
The only award Mashamaite missed out on from the four he was nominated for was the MTN8 Last Man Standing prize, won by teammate George Maluleka. The Chiefs defender pocketed a cool R450000 in total for his awards haul.
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