Johannesburg – Bafana Bafana and AmaZulu goalkeeper Veli Mothwa will use his festive season tournament to inspire and bring the community of Zebediela together over this Christmas period.
The 16-team Veli Mothwa Foundation Soccer Tournament will start on December 24 and end three days later. It will be hosted in Ga-Ntamatise in Zebediela, the place the lanky shot-stopper calls home.
“We thought that the foundation would be mostly about football since it is the most popular sport in the area. It was me, my friend Happy Nkhoma and my
brother Mohumzeni Mothwa, other grootmans and some popular people in the village who started the foundation to give back to the people of ZB, as Zebediela is known.
“The aim is to assist the village in building and having sports facilities that have grass so that young people can be inspired to play sport and follow their dreams,” said Mothwa.
Mothwa staked a claim in the Bafana Bafana set-up after a brilliant performance in the recent Cosafa Cup in Gqeberha where he kept clean sheets in all the five games he played.
He has been part of Hugo Broos’ new set-up and was also part of the Bafana team that was hard-done by Senegalese referee Ndiaye Maguette in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Ghana in the Cape Coast.
Mothwa is still heartbroken about what happened in Ghana on that fateful night. “It still hurts. We really worked hard to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but the referee denied us the opportunity. We deserve at least a replay against Ghana, but it is not in our hands.
“I want to create and leave a legacy for myself and family. I hope that we can go all the way and win the CAF Champions League with Usuthu.
“Right now, my focus and loyalty is with the club that has done so much for my career.”=
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