Gabadinho Mhango is a striker that has delivered for every club he has played for. He is blessed with the ability to maintain a certain calmness when inside the penalty area that enables him to pick a spot and slot the ball inside the net. But despite his brilliance, he has often been labelled one of football's Bad Boys. In fact, in this interview with Soccer Laduma's Thomas Kwenaite, the Malawian admits that such an image sometimes gets him hot under the collar, but that he has come to accept that this is a democratic country where freedom of expression is upheld. The 31-year-old also talks about what makes Steve Komphela special as a coach, why he is not happy with his goal return for Moroka Swallows so far, and more…
Thomas Kwenaite: Hola Gaba! How have you adapted to life at Moroka Swallows?
Gabadinho Mhango: They welcomed me with warm and open arms at Swallows. We are from different teams and when we met here, it was just amazing. I met amazing people as well as the coaches and some of them we have worked together at previous clubs, like coach Musa Nyatama – we played together. As for coach Steve (Komphela), we have been together previously and for me, it never really felt like I had arrived at a new environment. The moment I arrived, I was like, "Ah, I think I'm home!"
TK: What was the first thing coach Steve said to you when you arrived?
GM: The first day when I arrived, I think was in Durban. They (Swallows) had come to play Golden Arrows in Durban and when we met, he said to me, "I cannot wait to work with you because I know what you can do." I was like, "Wow, he is a coach that understand players!" As players, we came from different teams but adapted quickly to his philosophy.
TK: He later called you a "genius" and claimed that you always smell a goal. That's a huge compliment!
GM: It is indeed a huge compliment and, like I said, he is a coach that understands his players. He knows his players and encourages them to do their utmost best and is able to get the best out of players. He allows players the freedom to express themselves. I'm really enjoying working with coach Steve because he is a coach that allows you to make mistakes and later sits down with you to correct them. Collectively as a team we feel like repaying him for the confidence he has in us.
TK: Coach Steve further said players like you and Andile Jali are often misunderstood and that you have much more to offer the game than be judged.
GM: People will always talk and people will usually say bad things about you, perhaps to pull you down. Sometimes in life and as a human being, you cannot hide yourself, but you have to do certain things, but the public scrutiny is always there. I know at the end of the day we are footballers and often attract a lot of attention. But football is not the only thing that we do. There is also our private lives outside football. Judge us not according to what you see of us outside football. Now to say we are bad people because maybe people drink does not give people the license to label and judge us.
TK: Is it not human nature for people to watch what their heroes do outside football and blow it out of proportion?
GM: Whatever people do, the bottom line is that we are also human and sometimes we do feel like going out to relax, have fun and maybe a few drinks. At the end of the day, coach Steve also understand us as his players and he also gives us that freedom to say, "Ok, go out and have fun! Go spend some time with your families!" He also cautions us not to forget about football because when we come back, we start working hard again.
TK: How does Jali feel and handle such comments from a critical public?
GM: You know to play in the same team with a guy like Andile Jali is an honour. He is an exceptionally talented fellow and an amazing player. He is a player with loads of experience having also played in Europe, and he encourages everybody in the team, always urging and pushing us. Jali is a leader and a player whom all of us look up to for guidance. He always motivates us to do better every time, whether at training or in a match.
TK: What has made you succeed in South Africa when most players from outside the country have often failed?
GM: I think it's my background, first of all. I know where I come from and it had not been easy. I always commit myself to anything that I set my mind to doing. I am a footballer and will do anything that is best for me to succeed. I have a winning mentality. Maybe that is why I have had relative success.
TK: Two goals in eight matches in all competitions for the Dube Birds. Are you happy about your goal tally so far?
GM: An emphatic NO! I am not happy at all. That is something that we have been working on. We have been trying hard and from now going forward, I think we'll work on me getting closer to the goals, you know. I mean, as a striker and playing eight games with only two goals to show for it is just not a good return. But it's something that I'm working on.
TK: What motivated you guys against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 quarterfinal when you went toe-to-toe with them even though you were one-man down for almost the whole game?
GM: Sometimes it's the mentality of the players. I think some teams when they face Sundowns, they approach the match with a defeatist attitude. They are like, "Yho! Yho! Yho! We're playing Sundowns?" Yes, you've got to respect your opponents, but to fear them is a wrong attitude. For us, that day was like: "Ok, we are the same players, we are 11 and they are also 11, so let's take them on!" Sundowns is a big team, but Swallows is also a big team, so what's the difference? We cannot afford to be scared because we are also big players. Unfortunately, we were reduced to 10 men early in the contest. They won and even if that was not what we wanted, we congratulated them.
TK: Before you joined the club, there were rumours that Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United were also talking to you…
GM: That is correct. Before I joined Swallows, I was supposed to have joined Chiefs. Even when I left Durban, Chiefs sent me to a medical, and then something… I don't know what, but there was something holding up the other striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana. I was told they needed to check the striker who had left and gone to Morocco. Then the transfer didn't happen and he came back. That's when the deal was put on hold. I was in limbo and so I told my manager that if there was anything that comes along, we should go for it because all I ever wanted was to play. Immediately after the Chiefs disappointment, Swallows came along and so did SuperSport and others, but because I wanted to come back to Johannesburg and Swallows were pushing hard for the deal to happen, I said yes.
TK: How would you describe your time at Bucs?
GM: My time at (Orlando) Pirates was amazing. It is a team that makes you a complete footballer and you become instantly well-known on a global scale because they are a global brand. They are a team that makes their players to grow and they teach you how good it is to win things. I enjoyed my time there and scored quite a lot of goals. They are a team that gave me more experience as they also taught me a lot of personal things outside football, discipline and all the things you know. I'm glad and grateful for that.
TK: What led to your departure move to AmaZulu FC then?
GM: When I was at Pirates, we got to a stage where things were no longer the same for me anymore. There were new players coming in and so, that's something that I told my manager that if there was any chance to pursue my career elsewhere, it's fine, I could move. In any case, I had been there for three years already. But in truth, it had been quite an experience. So, that's how we moved to AmaZulu.
TK: You often make goal-scoring look so easy. How do you manage to do that?
GM: It's just my mentality as a goal poacher. Even before I receive or control the ball, I instinctively know my next move. I don't even have to look where the goalposts are because I know already. I am blessed with the ability to have the view of where my teammates are spread out around me. It becomes just a direction of how do I kick? I don't focus on the goalposts because I already know where they are and can mentally calculate the distance from the posts, where I am and how to kick. That is imprinted in my mind. The trick is to also be able to co-ordinate the foot that's going to kick and the foot that's going to balance.
TK: Some incredible insight from a predator in the box. What is the meaning of holding both your ears each time you celebrate a goal?
GM: It's something that… err…. Ha, ha, ha, you see, people talk a lot at the stadium and if you listen attentively to them, you could lose your focus. That celebration is just to say, "Me, I just close my ears to whatever you are saying and will do the job." It merely explains that I run away from all negative stuff from negative people and trust myself to remain positive!
TK: You once played for Bloemfontein Celtic. How did you feel when they disappeared from the face of the South African football scene?
GM: Celtic is where I started my professional career in South Africa and it was a big team. When I heard that Celtic is no longer there, even though I was no longer playing for them at the time, the truth is that they were my first home when I arrived and I harboured sentimental feelings for them. But at the end of the day, people decide what they want to do and we have to accept that it is the way of life.
TK: Tell us about your goal against Morocco at the 2021 Afcon in Cameroon. Was it your best effort at international level?
GM: It is one of the best I have ever scored. I was even proud of myself and proud of my country. I think we advanced to the round of 16, which was also an achievement for Malawi because we went there countless times and never got out of the group stages. Also, playing against teams like Morocco and Senegal was an awesome experience in itself. When you look at their line-up, it's packed with players that play for Chelsea, Liverpool and all those players in different European leagues. But our performance gave every young boy back home in Malawi inspiration that everything is possible.
TK: Thank you, Gaba!
GM: You are most welcome.
On the player he admires the most
"The only player I admire the most is Cristiano Ronaldo. The reason is quite simple, he is a player that always wants to win. In spite of everything that he has achieved, he is still hungry to achieve more success. It does not matter where or in which league he is playing, he always gives 200% every time he enters the field. He always wants to score whenever he enters the field and is never satisfied with a single goal but will continue working hard to score more goals until the referee blows the final whistle. That, there, is the player I admire the most and will always watch."
