Playmaker fired to be shooting right to the top

Ex-tornado central midfielder Thabiso “Forlan” Mikaele has signed with new National First Division side TS Galaxy ahead of the upcoming season.

Mikaele has agreed to a three-year deal with the option of renewing his contract.

The Bloemfontein-born midfielder had his first training session at the KwaNdebele-based outfit in Mpumalanga on Monday, and said he was excited to join the club owned by well-known soccer agent, Tim Sukazi.

Mikaele said that after a tough season at Tornado, he was happy to be joining a team campaigning in the NFD.

“At Tornado we managed to pull out and become the best team in the province and for me that was a huge learning curve.

“Because coach [Tshepo Motsoeneng] was giving me enough time to play and advising me.

“And even the chairman [Mawawa Sphiwo Nyobo] played an important role in my career,” said Mikaele.

He said it was very difficult ensuring that he made the starting lineup at the Mdantsane-based outfit, because they had in their armoury a pool of talented players, like former Bafana Bafana international Vuyisile Wana.

“It was tough for me, because when I arrived at the team during pre-season I wanted to go back home.

“Because it was tough going against those guys like Charles Gallagher, and others because I saw how strong the squad was.

“But the coach [Motsoeneng] spoke to me and calmed me down and that helped me gain the confidence I needed to be able to play with these guys.”

He said going to the NFD play-offs that were recently held at the Turfloop University Fields in Polokwane was a blessing in disguise even though they didn't get the desired result – promotion.

Only two teams were promoted to the NFD at the tournament organised by SA Football Association – TS Sporting from Mpumalanga and Maccabi from Gauteng.

“We [Tornado] were sad, man, because if you could look at other teams, you’d see that we had the best team as compared to your Buya Msuthu and The Dolphins.

“But it was also difficult because every team wanted to gain promotion and they fought with everything they had.

“We were just unfortunate that we missed a lot of chances to score, because the first game against Buya Msuthu we should have won it. But then they and others were fortunate enough to finish their chances.”

He said securing a contract witha NFD side was fulfilling as he had been stretching himself to the limit every time he stepped onto the pitch.

“I’m so excited because I have been working so hard for the team to get promotion, but even though I failed doing that at least my efforts didn’t go to waste.

“Because at the playoffs Chippa [coach] United’s Dan “Dance” Malesela was interested in me and Tim Sukazi [owner of TS Galaxy] also spoke to me saying he wanted my services.

“I wanted to sign with Chippa [United], but Tim [Sukazi] convinced me otherwise and I’m happy that I signed with him.”

Mikaele said all he wanted to do was to prove that he was one of the best midfielders in the league – on his way to playing top-flight football in the PSL one day.

Sukazi purchased Cape Town All Stars status in the second-tier league, and has moved the team to KwaNdebele for the 2018-19 NFD season.