Former Bafana Bafana captain, Aaron Mokoena spoke about where his famous nickname comes from and addressed the haters from his playing days.
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The story
The South Africa men's national team's most capped footballer, Aaron 'Mbazo' Mokoena has explained where his nickname comes from and also took time to address his haters.
Mokoena, who captained Bafana Bafana in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, enjoyed a candid conversation with ex-Kaizer Chiefs star Josta Dladla on his Izinja ZeGame podcast, detailing his career journey from over a decade in Europe to representing the national team.
Despite his experience in competing in Europe's top leagues for the likes of Germany's Bayer Leverkusen and Blackburn Rovers, Mbazo was one of the most criticised players while captaining Bafana in the late 2000s.
With 107 national team caps under his belt, the former Portsmouth skipper admitting he could've made more appearances for Bafana and had a message to the haters who undermined his talent.
"To the haters, you can't play under Carlos Parreira, you can't play under Mark Hughes if you aren't good enough. You can't play in the English Premier League, the Sydney Olympics and two World Cups, if you aren't good enough," stated Mokoena, in answering Dladla's question about his flack he received from supporters.
In terms of his nickname, which somewhat matches the physicality Mokoena displayed on the pitch for both club and country, the 44-year-old explained why he dislikes it.
"Honestly, I never liked that name. Back then eKasi in Boipatong, where I grew up. I had this father figure who liked me and it's because of him, he was a big fan of Orlando Pirates. They had this player, Kamanga 'Mbazo' (Moses Kamanga), so he said I was rough and said, 'From today, your name is 'Mbazo'."
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