No matter how much he tries, it seems Mihlali Mayambela can never catch a break from questions about his older brother Mark. It is, however, in the way he responds to the questions that makes it admirable.
After years of being in the game, Mayambela should be answering less questions about his older brother and more about the path he is trying to forge for himself. Mayambela, however, takes it in his stride and somehow finds a way to show how strong he is mentally as a player and this, I believe, can go a long way in taking his career to the next level, especially now that he is in the senior national team, Bafana Bafana.
One of the reasons he decided to go overseas at a young age, he explained, was that he want to take his own path and go to a place where nobody knew him or the impact his older brother had made as a footballer. To take that decision at a young age and stick to it so many years later. With all the difficulties players can face when they are away from home for long periods, Mayambela has shown a tremendous amount of strength to keep pushing in countries such as Sweden, Portugal, Israel and now Cyprus. There are many who have come back early from playing abroad, but he has kept it going for all these years and I would not be surprised if he were to make one big move in Europe before returning to South Africa in the latter years of his career.
Mayambela has this unbelievable calmness when responding to questions from the media. He has an ability to take a deep breathe, fully reflect on what he is being asked and give a detailed answer that will leave you thinking that he is older than Mark (nothing against Mark). But it's these type of characters that Bafana Bafana is going to need come the Africa Cup of Nations, players who are able to remain calm in the face of difficulty.
Mayambela is certainly that player and Hugo Broos, in my opinion, has done well to include him in the team because that type of energy can run off onto teammates, which is what is needed when facing big knockout competitions such as the AFCON.
I still feel that he can have a bigger impact ok the pitch for Bafana, but that will come with time. He was introduced to senior national team football a little later in his career and it sometimes needs some adjusting. I believe that it's only a matter of time before a Mayambela who plays a significant role both on and off the pitch for the senior national team.
