Johannesburg – In a vigorous engagement with football legend Edward Motale, the former Orlando Pirates star unpacked his remarkable memories as a professional footballer.
Hailing from the deep valley of Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria came enthusiastic defender in the South African football era.
Motale who played for both Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana is amongst the historical players to have won two continental titles for both the national team and domestic club.
Winning these titles was a dream come true for ‘Magents’ as he is famously known, and its a feat that every player desires to clinch.
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He became part of the squad at the Sea Robbers, where they broke the record of becoming the very first South African team to secure the CAF Champions League in 1995.
The fairy-tale didn’t only end in that classical year, as he featured in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, when Bafana Bafana claimed the title for the first time.
The 55-year-old’s profile is esteemed as the highest doctrine in the history of South African football.
Magents started out his professional career at Dynamos before making his breakthrough for the Buccaneers.
Orlando Pirates.
Photo Credit:©Tertius Pickard/Gallo Images
For his efforts, he then used to be the rock-solid centre-back was known for his strength and aerial ability at the peak of his career.
Although he’s glorified as the greatest footballer, Motale alluded that he did not become a millionaire beyond his football career.
He said although most people thought footballers are making huge sum of money, for him it’s a different story, as players at that time earned peanuts.
“Well for some people, they might think Magents is swimming in pool of millions, but that’s not true,” Motale tells Sunday World.
“I used to earn R8 500 while I used to play at the Buccaneers, that’s just a small quarter of what these modern players are earning days, and that used to be my highest salary at Pirates,” said Motale.
“I used to travel from Pretoria to Orlando with that amount, it wasn’t bad at that time,” addressed Motale.
Motale formed a lethal partnership with two legendary defenders such as Mark Fish and Gavin Lane at the Black and White side, terrorizing strikers during their time, as they couldn’t find a way to crack the solid backline.
Speaking about his partnership with the duo, Motale says that became the biggest career limelight as he played alongside the best.
“Having to play with Mark fish in both Pirates and at Bafana, that’s remarkable, here we talk about the defender who was a dedicated player that I have ever played with,” said Motale.
“It wasn’t easy to be in the starting line-up at Bafana, we had the very best defenders at that time, I had to compete with the likes of David Nyathi, Lucas Radebe and Sizwe Motaung,” said Motale.
Providing word of motivation, Motale says current players need to prioritize investing, and to focus more into property investment so they have sustainable wealth even beyond soccer.
Edward Motale reveals his top five players he featured alongside at Pirates
Motale details the best players he played alongside, during his tenure at the Buccaneers, he says these top five players remain the greatest footballers of all time he played with.
- William Okpara
- John Moeti
- Helman Mkhalele
- Jerry Skosana
- Marks Maponyane
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