Former Mamelodi Sundowns star Manqoba "Shakes" Ngwenya opened up about his days at the Tshwane giants, guiding his child through football and retirement from the beautiful game.
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Former Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits baller Manqoba 'Shakes' Ngwenya touched on the major moments of his career at Downs, including dealing with Hristo Stoickov.
The retired winger spent eight years with the Brazilians and spoke candidly with his former teammate Josta Dladla on a range of topics from his days at Downs, his goalscoring exploits, dealing with coaches and his transition into retirement.
Ngwenya worked with Stoickov for a season before he was deemed surplus to requirements, parting ways with Downs in 2010 and going on to represent Mpumalanga Black Aces and Thanda Royal Zulu before finishing his career in Botswana.
When asked by Dladla on his Izinja ZeGame podcast on what it was like to work with the Bulgarian football icon, Ngwenya answered, "The guy was a Balon d'Or winner, Stoickov was a Balon d'Or winner. He had a quality left foot.
"He wouldn't even warm up, he would play a game where he'd place five balls, with no step up or anything, he would whip it into the top corner. He would bet with the keepers that he will score past them. That's where I saw what it takes to be the best, because he [Stoickov] had amazing technique," shared Ngwenya.
He also spoke about his son, Siphesihle, who is playing in the Gauteng Development League (GDL) for Highlands Park. Ngwenya spoke about throwing his weight behind his child and that he's not putting too much pressure on him.
"My father always supported us and that's what I do now for my son. He's an aspiring footballer playing in the GDL. He's pushing but no pressure to him though, but he's doing well. For me, it's just to support him and no pressure on him, I don't want that for him.
"I want him to have his own journey, in fact, just to support him wherever he wants to go, even if he wanted to quit football to play tennis, I would still support him.
Dladla also quizzed Ngwenya on his feelings regarding his career and whether or not football betrayed him in any way, due to the challenges he faced in his playing days.
"I did [feel betrayed] for the longest time but I've gotten over it through the years. It hurt you know but I think people only saw 40% of my potential," he shared.
"I'm also appreciative of the fact that a lot people who appreciated what I gave to the game, even though they could've seen much more. When I came back from Botswana and I was a top goal scorer, I couldn't find a team, I decided that I've given everything that I could give. Here's my son now, he's starting to play, let me rather support him," said Ngwenya, who admitted to being depressed after quietly stepping away from the game.
"It wasn't easy. I was depressed. A lot of things went wrong almost at the same time. When times goes on, you remind yourself of who you are and that you have to conquer and conquering has a lot of hurdles, it's not just a straight route to success. Life doesn't end with football, there's life after football. I started to love myself more and to believe in myself more and that lifted me," added Shakes.
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