Talking about Keanu Cupido, Cape Town City captain Thami Mkhize told the club's media department: "I remember when he first joined us, he was quiet and he looked like he's scared. He was skinny, but when you put him on the field, he was comfortable with the ball. He easily can play in the midfield, like Sergio Busquets." One year on and the defender has grown into his own and nailed down a starting berth at the Citizens. He has arguably been coach Eric Tinkler's most trusted soldier this campaign, thanks in no small part to a change in lifestyle off the field that he has yielded the results. As a consequence, Cupido is living up to the potential initially spotted by Benni McCarthy, who gave him his first professional start. In this interview, Soccer Laduma's Delmain Faver speaks to the 25-year-old about his growth on and off the pitch, transitioning from a boy to a man and that elusive Bafana Bafana call-up.
Delmain Faver: Keanu, it's been a stellar season for you so far, where you have been Cape Town City's most regular player. What has the campaign been like for you?
Keanu Cupido: I think this season is the season… Like, you know, you get your breakthrough season, so I see this as my breakthrough season where I had to do well. But also, it comes from confidence-wise, man. Like, I think people outside of football are also helping with my confidence. My family has moved this side, so that played big part in this season as well. The coach has given me more confidence… and the players as well. I think everyone has just given me their confidence and it makes life easier for me and I think with that, I'm enjoying every minute of every game now. I'm enjoying training. I'm just enjoying life in general now.
DF: It seems injuries have been kinder to you this campaign. How much of a relief is that?
KC: Yes, when I'm not playing, I'm looking after my body as well a lot better. The food that I'm eating. So, after training, if I just feel like there's a muscle problem, I'll go and sort it out with one of the masseuse or the physio. Also, I do go to the gym as well to maintain the body, the fitness. I think it's what you do off the field as well. Like, the coach spoke to me and told me that, 'Listen, I'm gonna need you for every game', so I need to be ready. I must be a player where he needs to believe in me and I feel like I can finish 90 minutes with ease. I think now since the coach told me that, I've been looking after my body a lot and also (watch) the food I eat off the field at home, (so as) not to lose the fitness. The coach spoke to me and he gave me confidence, but he also is relying on me and putting more pressure on me. But that's also something I need from him as well, to put the pressure on me, and just relying on me makes me feel like I'm important to this team. I need to do well. I need to make the people proud and I need to make my family proud. I need to make the coaches proud, and my teammates as well.
DF: Would you say that the experience you've gained in the last few campaigns as a youngster has paid off in this time?
KC: Yeah, I started off with Benni (McCarthy), I played a lot under him (in) my first season. I played a lot. But, you know, I was very young at the time. As a centre-back at that age, you make lots of mistakes and you need to grow, you need to develop. I feel like I've learned a lot from those mistakes that I made under him. I also just feel like the experience that I'm getting, the players that came and left (Abbubaker) Mobara, Tara (Taariq Fielies), they left, but they were the type of players that I looked up to. The type of football they played is the same type of football I play. They are good players, very good players on the ball; off the ball they are also good players. But I feel like even with Thami (Mkhize), I've been with Thami ever since I came, he is helping me a lot on the field, off the field as well. I feel like he's not someone who speaks a lot, but I've worked with him a few times and that's how I get to know the real Thami away from football. That helps me a lot when I'm playing and when I'm not playing. He told me that if I get a chance, I mustn't look back and I think ever since the season started, I got the chance and I never looked back.
DF: Go on...
KC: Just the small things Thami will say to me… like, when I get home, I think, 'Thami said this to me, and I can feel it now. Like, this is becoming a reality.' The players have helped me a lot. I have learned a lot in those five years, and I feel like now I can always learn. I need to put stuff behind me and say that's the past now. I need to focus as well on being a regular, doing well for the team and doing well for myself as well.
DF: How important was working with Benni for you because he has been hailed for his man-management skills?
KC: He gave me my debut, and when you are still young, you feel you are just making mistakes after mistakes. I felt like at some stage I was tired of making mistakes, I just needed to pay Benni back, but when he spoke to me, I didn't feel like I let him down in some way because the way he spoke to me, it just motivated me. I can remember a game against Chippa (United) away and we won 2-0. I've never seen that guy like that! The way he spoke to me… It was the first time, but he was very hard on me and after the game, we spoke like nothing happened and he just told me, 'I want you to play well. I want the best out of you so that you can do well and move on.' I felt like this guy is not speaking as a coach now, he is speaking like a teammate or a friend. I realised then he is a very good guy that manages players very well. But I just felt like I wanted to do more for him because he's the one that gave me my debut.
DF: The club has handed you a new long-term contract, which runs until June 2026. What did that mean to you?
KC: At the club, we set goals, and we need to repay the club with trophies. That's the club's end-goal, they need trophies. So, I feel like I need to pay the club back with trophies and just do well in the league because that's how I think every team is run. Once they give you a long-term contract, you need to pay them back and by paying them back, they want trophies, they want wins, they want to do well in the league. So, yeah, I feel like that's my goal, to pay the team back. And I just wanna say thank you, yeah. That's how you say thank you in football, by winning trophies.
DF: At one stage, your captain Mkhize spoke about your technical abilities and even compared you to the legendary Sergio Busquets. What did hearing those words mean to you?
KC: I watch a lot of football, not only Busquets. I watch the likes of Rivaldo Coetzee, Mobara and Tara locally. Those are the players that I feel like can do it as well. When you watch Manchester City as well, John Stones coming into the midfield role, it feels like he's a midfielder, so I learned a lot from those guys. Rivaldo, they do it at (Mamelodi) Sundowns as well, where he's building as a midfielder, comfortable on the ball, great passer of the ball as well. For me, it's just like I need to watch, and you can always learn as a player. Football is changing a lot now, it's more tactical, so players need to play in two positions. I feel like I need to learn and I need to improve and I need to go in the direction that football is going. So, I can't be a centre- back and just be a centre-back. It's either I can be a centre-back, a number six, a right back. I need to change and I need to do well in each position. So, yeah, I feel like I'm learning, still I'm not the best at it. But, yeah, it's a great feeling for Thami to say something like that because he's a senior player, the captain from our team, so that makes me feel really good.
DF: This very same ability he spoke of has seen some fans call for your inclusion in the Bafana Bafana squad. Is that something that you view as a realistic goal?
KC: I think every football player wants to play for the national team and not be a teabag… in and out. I think every footballer wants to play for the national team in every game. But at the end of the day, it's not the player's decision, the decision goes higher up. The coach from the national team is the one that makes the decision. We as players, we don't have much of a say in that, but our action speaks on the field, so that's what we must be more worried about, doing well for your team on the field. If you do get the chance in the national team, I think you must take it with both hands. But that's for the future, now they called the team and I'm not there, so I just need to continue to do what I have been doing now. Do well, as I said. Win trophies. Maybe those things can help as well to get into the national team. But it's not only me, I think there's good players that are not in the national team that have been doing well. There's a few players that are not there that have been doing well. Mobara as well, he's been playing every game. Even in our team, there's good players, but they are not there. Taahir Goedeman is doing well and has played lots of games. But at the end of the day, it's like you need to win stuff, you need to be consistent as well to get into national team. That's my point of view. But as I said, I need to go to the next step, I need to go into the national team. Personally, I feel like it's my next step and at the end of the season, we will see where we need to improve. I'll look back and say, 'Listen, I've played so many games, how many clean sheets did I get?' You need to set goals for yourself as well.
KEANU CUPIDO FACT FILE
Full name: Keanu Gregory Cupido
Date of birth: 15 January 1998
Place of birth: Soweto, Gauteng
Nickname: Diempie
Position: Defender
Jersey number: 15
Club: Cape Town City
Previous clubs: Diambars Academy, AC Ajaccio B (France), Bidvest Wits
Honours: 2018/19 MTN8 winner, 2021/22 MTN8 runner-up (both with Cape Town City), 5 national U23 caps, 1 national U20 cap
