Lebohang "Cheeseboy" Mokoena shared a clip of him reacting emotionally to his former coach, Steve Komphela's praise.
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The story
Former Bafana Bafana, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns attacker, Lebohang Mokoena, took to Instagram to reshare a clip of his radio interview with Robert Marawa, which featured a heartwarming message from Steve Komphela.
The Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach was heard lavishing praise on Cheeseboy, who struggled to contain himself when listening to his former coach’s kind words.
Komphela and Cheeseboy worked together at national team level when Steve Komphela was Bafana Bafana’s interim coach and when he was in charge of the under-20 outfit from 2004 to 2007.
Although Mokoena's interview on Marawa Sports Worldwide (MSW) happened five months ago, Komphela’s message to the retired baller struck a chord.
"Let me tell you, I've worked with players with technical ability, players with great athletic ability, but I've seen very few players who have the intelligence, not only to do with the game, but intelligence to deal with life like Cheese does. Cheese was that person, he had a great upbringing, he speaks with eloquence and respect, he's unbelievably humble, he respects others and knows how to make space for people," said Komphela at the time on MSW.
Komphela recounted one of Mokoena's most memorable performances at age-group level for Amajita, which came in a nine-goal thriller against Zambia, where Mokoena came off the bench to steer Mzansi to a COSAFA Cup U20 title.
Komphela spoke about the chemistry Cheeseboy had on the pitch with Lerato Chabangu and the junior national team squad he mentored at the time.
"I can go on for an hour about Cheesboy Mokoena, but I just want to wish him the very best and also to remind him about one of his great performances for South Africa. Not the game, his performance for the Under-20s against Botswana in Potchestroom. The match I'm talking about is the one they played in Pretoria, a COSAFA Under-20s 2004 final we won against Zambia. It was an amazing game, I've seen teams play football, but I had never seen a final so entertaining," recalled the veteran coach.
"It was a classic, we beat Zambia 5-4. Cheese came on as a sub and opened the scoring and went on to score a hattrick. The understanding between Cheeseboy and Lerato Chabangu was insane, We had an amazing team.
"That era also had the late, great Gift Leremi, Even though I had great players in that team, they gave me hell! Cheeseboy, the late Senzo Meyiwa, and Itumeleng Khune. They gave me hell. Typical of geniuses, when you deal with them, you know you’re dealing with delinquents. Special people, with special talent, will give you special problems,” shared Steve Komphela.
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