In a Soccer Laduma Fan Park Exclusive, Wayde Lekay opened up to us about his new life in Sweden!
Check it out!
What's the story?
Former TS Galaxy and Cape Town City forward Wayde Lekay spoke to us about how he's finding life in the Scandinavian nation of Sweden.
Lekay currently plies his trade at FC Trollhättan in the third tier of Swedish football and revealed how it's taken time for him to adjust to his new surroundings.
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Let's take a closer look...
Wayde Lekay interview | Part 1
After leaving Cape Town City in March last year, following a short stint, Lekay has found his feat all the way in Sweden, at FC Trollhättan.
Lekay finds himself in the relatively unknown city of Trollhättan, is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, that has a population of over 50 000.
It's located around 75 km north of Sweden's second-largest city, Gothenburg and is famous for it's tranquil waterfalls. As mentioned by Lekay, his new home is completely different to his environment in the Mother City, and it took time for him to get his bearings in the city:
"Life in Sweden is really great. I'm enjoying it so far. Obviously, coming from Cape Town in South Africa, it took a little bit of an adjustment [to settle]. I know we're very friendly people there and coming to Sweden, they're not very talkative, not very interactive with people they don't know, so just learning the cultural differences took a bit of time at the beginning. Once you get to know the people, they're actually really amazing," says Lekay.
While many would feel that Lekay downgraded by leaving the DStv Premiership for Sweden's third tier, but the ex-TS Galaxy forward is embracing the tactical challenges he's facing in Swedish football:
"The level of football up here in Sweden is actually really good. I must say, it's a bit different to South African football because here it's much more tactically disciplined I must say, so there's a lot that goes into the tactics.
"I think technically, South African football has more variety and flair but the level itself [in Sweden], once it's all put together is quite good," says Lekay who claims that both Mzansi and the Swedes would undermine each others quality of football:
"South Africans would undermine Swedish football and Sweden, kind of undermines South African football a little bit, but if you had to compare I think we're on the same level," he adds.
As mentioned above, Trollhättan is one of Sweden's smallest cities, which limits Lekay to coffee runs, bike rides and link-ups with his teammates to watch some football.
The baller enjoys kicking back and gaming on his PlayStation in his apartment — with Lekay admitting that there isn't much to do in the city that's known for being Sweden's film metropolis.
According to the city's municipal website, more than 300 films have been based in Trollhättan and it has its own Walk of Fame!
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The Cape Town native has found himself at SuperSport United's reserves, before a breakthrough move to the Rockets in 2020 and a short spell at the Citizens.
He mentioned that football was always the plan for him as the sport runs firmly in his family's blood:
"I've only ever seen myself playing football. It's something that resonated with me from a very young age. My dad used to coach, my cousin used to play, so, I've always wanted to play football, my whole life," he says.
A short period of studying at the University of Western Cape did not deter him from his goal of becoming a pro, a childhood dream he firmly set his sight on:
"My head was always on football and that kept increasing as time went on. I just wanted to be professional from the age of nine, that's when the dream actually started. I started to play football earlier, I would say age five, five or six. But I always wanted to play professional football," says Lekay.
From Wayde's father constantly telling him to believe in himself, to his mother preaching that he must always trust God, it's hard for baller to pinpoint the best advice he's received.
He's worked under Owen Da Gama, Stuart Baxter and Shaun Bartlett during the course of his career and showed gratitude to all three of them, for the advice they've shared:
"He [Bartlett] has given me some good advice, especially before travelling over to Sweden, and he would tell about how situations could be in a new country. I think that's helped me a lot.
"I've had a lot of mentors who have given me great advice along the way," stated Lekay.
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