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Zungu Drops Mbappe Flex In Bid For Game-Time At Downs

Zungu Drops Mbappe Flex In Bid For Game-Time At Downs

Bongani Zungu

Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Bongani Zungu has reminded the fans and coaches of what he brings to the table.

Zungu's signing by Sundowns was a major talking point early in the season but he quickly went under the radar after not immediately making the starting team.

In addition to the quality players at the Brazilians, the Bafana Bafana midfielder has had to deal first with his fitness issues, which contributed to him only making a couple of cameo substitute appearances.

Read: Zungu Refers To Neymar As A Bully

However, Zungu says he's a mature player now and the experiences he gained in Europe helps him deal with the stress off the field.

"The lifestyle in Europe is different and it helped me in terms of maturity off the pitch," Zungu told Sundowns Magazine.

"I worked with many good coaches and world class players such as Jermain Defoe.

"At Amiens, I played against Paris-Saint Germain and those experiences have helped in my development as a player."

'Ben 10' previously explained how head coach Rulani Mokwena played a huge in him deciding to join Sundowns, as he had offers elsewhere.

The 30-year old has now also revealed that what endeared him to the Brazilians is the efforts made by Mokwena to visit him while he was at Amiens and appreciates the advice he gets from coaches such as Manqoba Mngqithi. 

"Coach Rulani came to visit me overseas and he had a chat with one of the coaches at Amiens to see how we were training," Zungu revealed.

"He has really helped me grow on and off the field. Coach Manqoba is a father figure to me and continuously gives me valuable advice."

Zungu had a fruitful stay in Europe as he played at least two seasons for Amiens in the French Ligue 1 (prior to their relegation), where he came up against Paris Saint-Germain a number of times, who has superstars stars such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.

The former University of Pretoria FC star midfielder, who also had a loan spell at Scottish giants Rangers, went on to reveal that Mbappe is his favourite player at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar, although he is rooting for African teams.

"Having played against Kylian Mbappe, I know his capabilities and I'm pretty certain after winning the previous (World Cup) edition he is expected to shine again," he said.

"When it comes to the World Cup, I will be rooting for Senegal," Zungu stated.

"African teams have never won the FIFA World Cup so it would be amazing for the continent if it were to happen," he added. 

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