With his silky skills, high work-rate and goalscoring ability, it didn't take long to realise that SuperSport United had got themselves a gem in Gamphani Lungu when signing him from Zambian side Power Dynamos in 2018. Over the years, he's continuously proven why the club went out of their way to lure him into their ranks. The versatile player is one of the stars that coach Gavin Hunt is relying on to deliver on the mission to qualify the club for the CAF Champions League next season. However, the 24-year-old seems a worried man when it comes to his performances in the current campaign, admitting he's not been at his best. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Masebe Qina, Lungu opens up on why his current position does not suit him, Matsatsantsa's perceived over-reliance on Bradley Grobler and how Monnapule Saleng outsmarted him in a recent game against Orlando Pirates. Read on!
Masebe Qina: In a recent game, which was very key in the race for second spot, SuperSport United lost to Orlando Pirates. What went wrong?
Gamphani Lungu: I felt like we didn't take our chances and I still believe that we should have done better. In some areas, we were not too clinical because a game of football is a game of chances and if you take your chances, you have a better chance of winning, but if you don't take your chances, your chances of winning reduce. Look how they won, they won through a penalty and it wasn't like their goal came through open play where they were creating chances. Maybe after the goal that's when they started pressing a little bit, but there wasn't much of a pressing game from them. After the game, we were a bit down, although we couldn't keep on dwelling on the past.
MQ: Did it look like a legitimate penalty from where you were standing?
GL: It was legitimate, yes, because (Monnapule) Saleng was clever, I have to be honest. I outstretched my leg and he clashed into me, which was a very clever move from him. It's football and you have to get something out of nothing. Honestly, and I will say it straight, it was a penalty. I won't look for any excuse, I should have avoided that situation. When I got home and looked at the situation, I felt that I should have done better because Saleng is left-footed and in that situation, he went to the right, and I shouldn't have given him that angle he got because he doesn't use his right foot that much. Had they not been awarded the penalty, the result could have been different.
MQ: Was there a plan on how to close Saleng down as he has arguably been Bucs' dangerman this season?
GL: To be honest, no. Our coach is more about us than the opponents. We play more on our strengths and not the other people's game. If our strength worked out on that day, no matter who their dangerman is, that would not have mattered as that person might have had a bad game. We have to play our game perfectly and we can't always have this thing of saying, "Oh, this person!" We are professional footballers and we know how certain players play and I can't expect the coach to tell me to watch my opponents, I should do it myself. In the previous games, I had seen what he had done because I watch football. Football has always been my life. Just like I said, on the day we were just not clinical.
MQ: Would you agree with critics who say that SuperSport United are sometimes too reliant on Bradley Grobler for goals?
GL: Yeah, it's been like that sometimes and it feels like we rely on him. I'm a very honest person and I feel like as other players, we do need to step up and play our part. What if Bradley gets injured, what happens then? I understand when people say that because it really does feel like we rely on Bradley for goals a lot. For me, I haven't been playing as a striker lately, although I feel that that's my natural position. Maybe it's time for our other strikers to pull up their socks and do better. We all have to do better as individuals and everything will be okay.
MQ: How does coach Gavin Hunt want you to contribute to the team?
GL: The thing is I've played there before, but I'm not going to say it's my favourite position. Most of the time, you find me playing as a winger, but when I was playing back home (in Zambia), I enjoyed playing closer to the goals. Even in training, I know where the goals are, but it's there at training where everything starts because you train according to your position. So, that whole instinct of being a striker, for me, I feel it's not sharp. I feel I have been rusty. There are days I will play as a wingback and there are days I will be playing as a right winger – all those things take a lot because you have to think a lot of things about which position you really play. Like I said, it's not my favourite position, but if that's the position the coach wants me to play, I've got no problem, I will play. At the end of the day, it's for the team that we try to win and Jones comes second.
MQ: Notably, you haven't scored a lot of goals this season and have bagged three assists.
That's the thing about football because sometimes you create a good opportunity for someone to score, but they don't score and that makes the next person look bad. That's why it is important to take responsibility for the choices we make and the things we do. Let's say half the time you give the ball to someone and he always scores, you would have been higher than where you are. But for me personally, I feel that my stats are very rubbish and I don't like them. (Before scoring his first goal this season) Knowing that I haven't scored this season, every time I would sit down and think about it and I always cry about it. I'm used to scoring and for me, not scoring is something new, which I'm trying to figure out as to what is wrong and stuff like that.
MQ: Do you attribute it to the change of position and have you discussed it with the coach?
GL: No, we spoke about it in passing and not in detail. But he does know about it and I've mentioned it a couple of times that I am a striker and I want to play as a striker and not as a winger. Sometimes he would make comments in training and jokingly. But one thing about the coach is that he will choose people that he thinks will be suitable somewhere for a certain match and for a different match he would select a different player for a different position. But there are games I have played in those positions (in the previous seasons) and I have scored. But I can't fault anyone and I think my form has not been too bad in helping the team whenever I play. The whole scoring part is the only thing that I'm disappointed about.
MQ: On the positive side, you've been a regular and consistent, having featured in almost every match since missing those first two encounters of the season…
GL: That's a plus for me. But again, I think I'm my own biggest critic. If I were to look at that and sit down, I have played in all those games, but what has been the outcome for me? Three assists in more than 20 matches? Not good enough!
MQ: Very unusual for an athlete to criticise himself and kudos to you, it means you're taking your career very seriously.
GL: I can't blame people for my own life. It's me who has the responsibility to make sure that I do better. For example, we are gunning for top two because we want to play continental football next season and if we are to end up there, we need everyone to be sharper than ever. We need everyone to play a role to make sure that we go and play there. There is no saying that this person is better than that one, no. We have to work together as a team and that's why I am harder on myself. You know, people sometimes will tell you, "Oh, yeah, you had a good game", while you know that you had a bad game, but you smile about it – that's not me! I'll tell the person straight, "No, I didn't", because I don't want someone to tell me something just to make me feel better.
MQ: The race for that second CAF Champions League spot is hotting up. How will you make sure you are the ones joining Mamelodi Sundowns in continental football next season?
GL: For us, we are open to each other and we speak about issues. All we can do, like the coach told us, we can play the games one at a time. We can't dwell on the past and we can only correct our mistakes and move on. We can't be praying for other teams to lose for us to have an upper hand, we should win our own games first before we start looking at the other people. For example, we are still going to play (Kaizer) Chiefs and we have to beat Chiefs for ourselves and not need to wait for someone to do it for us.
MQ: Before we let you go, we gotta talk about that Nedbank Cup loss to minnows Dondol Stars a while back.
GL: Hmmm… you know me, I never like to look down on a team because of the division they are in and things like that. I think on that day, they had their game plan right. I can look for so many excuses, but we all watched that game and we all saw what happened. But I think we should have done better. We scored one goal and then we relaxed, which is not good enough. Look at the other teams that score three or four in the first half – that's how it has to be. I think the mindset on that day was, "It's this team."
MQ: Hunt must have been livid!
GL: The coach chooses not to speak when he is angry. After the game, he didn't have much to say. We all knew that we disappointed so many people. It's not just the coach, but the whole SuperSport and the fans, members of the staff up there, (the) CEO and everybody, we disappointed them. It's not something we wanted, but it happened. Football is a sport where when you are angry, it is always best to keep quiet and that's what the coach opted to do.
MQ: All the best for the remainder of theseason.
GL: Thank you very much, big man.
GAMPHANI LUNGU FACT FILE
Full name: Ghampani Jones Lungu
Date of birth: 19 September 1998
Place of birth: Lusaka, Zambia
Nickname: Mr Jones
Position: Midfield-cum-striker
Jersey number: 17
Club: SuperSport United
Previous clubs: National Assembly FC, Power Dynamos (both Zambia)
Honours: 2019 MTN8 winner (with SuperSport)
