Tefu Mashamaite may have gone abroad late in his career, but the brief spell he had in Sweden is one he will never forget as it came with memories that he'll cherish for a long time.
Soccer Laduma spoke to the former Kaizer Chiefs captain about the one season he had spent at BK Hacken.
The year
I was there for 2015/16. It was a great welcome and a great environment for me. Geographically, it was a small island of the city of Gothenburg. Getting around, transportation wise, was quite easy. Getting to training, to the city and to the stadium...everything was within a small distance. I used to share an apartment with Ghanaian brothers, Nasiru Mohammed and Abubaker Mohammed. They made it a bit easy for me in terms of adapting. They used to take me to an African shop, where you could literally find the stuff you'd normally find in South Africa. The team, back then, was more like a mid-table team and they had aspirations to grow and that's when they started international players and I was one of them. It's nice to see now that they are one of the top four teams. They were actually playing in the UEFA Europa League. They reached the group stages and that was the first time in their history. They have improved and have become one of the top teams.
How the move happened
I had just won all those accolades in 2015 (at Chiefs) and then I became a free agent. There was interest from almost all over. There was interest from New York City (in Major League Soccer). I went there and trained with them for like two weeks, but we could not make a deal. Then there was interest from Turkey and from Copenhagen, but Hacken came with a swift and nice deal. I got contacted by Ryan Hartslief, who is based in Spain now. He is the one who made sure that the deal came together.
My first day in Sweden
I remember getting to the airport and the director of the club was waiting for me. I already had his number, so I called him when I got there and he told me where we should meet. He actually came to fetch me with the team bus and they had booked me into a hotel, because they were still sorting my residentials. I went to the hotel and rested. I stayed there for three or four days. The following day there was training, so I had to be ready for the training session.
My debut
It was against Matthew Rusike's team, Halmstads. We beat them 4-0. It was a home game and I played 90 minutes. We were on a roll that season because I think we ended up finishing in fifth or sixth place. Before my debut, I played two training games. I played in the Under-21. They allow three or four senior players to play. The other game was against a team former Chelsea player (Florent) Malouda played (Odisha FC). It was an Indian team and they were on tour. Former Liverpool player John Arne Riise was there. I still have a picture of Malouda and I in action. So, I played those two games before making my official debut.
The best player I played with
Samuel Gustafson. The same season, towards the end, he ended up signing for a club in the Italian Serie A (for Torino). He is back at Hacken and he is the captain. He continues to show his talent there. He is one of the most talented players I played with.
The best player I played against
It's Henok Goitom. He was big, strong. He was bullish. He was one of those strikers who put you under pressure when you were in possession. He would bombard you to make sure you don't have a lot of time on the ball.
Most memorable moment
It has to be when I scored my first goal against Helsingborgs. It was a corner. They defended the first in-swing and we got a rebound from their clearance. The ball was brought back into the box by one of my teammates and I connected with it. That's memorable. Scoring a goal is always a nice feeling.
Lowest moment
It was when I got injured in the semi-final of the Swedish FA Cup. It meant that I missed the final and I was looking forward to playing in the final against Malmo. We went on to beat them and that was the first cup in the history of the club. You can imagine how it was to watch that final from the stands. But I got a medal.
Why I left
The playing surface. Seventy of the fields, because of the weather, are synthetic. I played for about nine years in the PSL before I had a major career-threatening injury, which I sustained when I was in Sweden. The reason was because of the playing surface. It was too hard and it affected my knees and joints. I got hurt and then I had to have an operation.
