A former AmaZulu defender has penned an emotional letter to announce his retirement from professional football.
Following close to a decade of football in Mzansi’s professional ranks since the beginning of his career at Polokwane City in 2012, Vukile Mngqibisa turned out for the University of Pretoria, AmaZulu and Highlands Park, before a stint at Witbank Spurs in 2018.
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At 32, the Lady Frere-born centre-back has decided to call it quits in the game to move into a new career.
"It took me time to think about what I’m about to say and a lot of people who have been there for me since the beginning have been asking questions about my whereabouts, some even offering to help. I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me since day one of my journey especially my mother who had to buy soccer boots every now and then not knowing what football was about but she supported me all the way. My little brother has been a pillar of strength in my journey and each and every time I finished playing, I knew his phone call would follow to tell me how proud he was and how I could improve. My little sister for making sure that I ate the right diet to keep pushing all the years.
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Brothers for life you know yourselves and If I were to rate you, I would give you 100% out of 100%. Bra Salter I don’t have words to say and I wish God could bless you and the rest of your family because you have been a soldier in my life and having sleepless nights at times. The list is very long and if I could write each and every one it could take the whole day and night. In short, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has been there through my football career and today I can confirm that I'm retiring from football even though it’s difficult to say but this day had to come and I’m now going to focus on my new career. I hope I represented K1 (Katlehong) and Lady Frere well."
Mngqibisa has confirmed that he is starting a career in Sports Massage Therapy in his new journey, having recently qualified for it from the Health & Fitness Professionals Association in Durban.
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