At age 33, Crysley Kekana has accepted the fact that he may never get to play in the topflight of South African football, but the Nedbank Cup clash against Kaizer Chiefs gives him an opportunity to live his dream for at least 90 minutes.
Kekana is counting down the days to face Amakhosi in the Round of 32 at FNB Stadium on Sunday, a chance to live the dream and make his family proud on live television.
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The Free Agents FC player had trials at a top flight club in the past, but it did not work out for him, so being on television this weekend will give him motivation to showcase the talent South Africans have not had a chance to see over the years.
"It's important for me because I have not reached the PSL level. I will be playing against a PSL team, so at least before I retire I can say I played against a PSL team, so it's a good thing for me," he said to the Siya crew.
"Yes, it's sad that I haven't had a chance to play in the PSL, but football is luck. I have tried because the last time I went for trials at AmaZulu. It was promising. That was in 2019. But I can still say football has helped me to survive because I am getting something here. I am able to survive."
The defensive midfielder from Mamelodi grew up supporting Orlando Pirates, so facing Chiefs gives him an opportunity to get one over the Buccaneers' rivals.
"That gives me motivation because supporters of Chiefs don't like Pirates. We are going to give it our all to try to get a good result," he said.
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"As a team, we are very excited and this gives us an opportunity to showcase our talent because it's going to be televised. For us, there is nothing to lose going there."
Beating Pirates' rivals is not the only motivating factor for Kekana. He's watched lower division clubs such as Baroka FC, Richards Bay, TS Galaxy and Milford upsetting Amakhosi in the Nedbank Cup, so the midfielder has got reason to believe that they too can embarrass the Soweto giants.
"We are inspired because we can see they have bad luck when playing lower division teams. It gives us hope that we can go there and get a win."
