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Former Bafana international Bafana reflected on a successful campaign in which the Birds defeated Ajax Cape Town for the NFD title
Moroka Swallows captain Lebohang ‘Cheeseboy’ Mokoena is delighted to have proven his skeptics wrong after taking the Birds back to the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
The Soweto giants secured automatic promotion to the elite league after clinching the National First Division (NFD) title with a 3-0 win over Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila on the final day of the season on Sunday.
Mokoena, who had successful spells with the Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, struggled to find a new club in the top flight league after leaving Ajax Cape Town in 2017 with the Urban Warriors relegated to the NFD.
The former South African Under-23 international was without a club for a year before joining the NFD’s then-Maccabi FC in 2018 and then moving to Swallows before the current season.
“This is a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am thankful that God has given me this opportunity because so many people discarded me,” Mokoena told the media.
“They said ‘Cheeseboy is no longer [the same player]. Cheeseboy will never play football again. ‘
“I am not here for the love of money, but for the passion and talent that God has given me. All the praise goes to God. Also the support I received from my family, my wife and children.
“I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping me in good shape and moving forward in terms of what I love to do.”
Swallows had a slow start to the current season, but the team began to perform well after coach Brandon Truter was hired to replace Zeca Marques in September 2019.
“It has been very hard. We did not start well, then coach Truter came. We had a lot of changes. We changed a lot of things,” added the experienced player.
“We had to work on the attitude, humility and unity of the team. In fact, we did it. Everyone knew they had a role to play.
“We had a difficult time during the break that was imposed by Covid-19. It took its toll on us. We were frustrated,” said Mokoena, who scored four goals in 27 league games for Swallows this season.
The PSL and NFD seasons were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in March and the two competitions only resumed in a biologically safe environment (BSE) in Gauteng earlier this month.
The 33-year-old believes his individual training sessions at Zoom were key to the team’s promotion to the PSL, as he only battled injuries in his final match against Tshakhuma on Sunday.
“We got to camp early and had the [coronavirus] tests performed. We did Zoom sessions at home as individuals. That paid off because it really sustained us for the remaining six games we had on the biobubble.
“We only had problems in the last game, and at some point I threw a muscle. It was already solved. We believed in the team. Everyone knew what they had to do.”
The swallows are back in the PSL for the first time since they were relegated from the top-flight league to the NFD at the end of the 2014/15 campaign.
Ajax Cape Town and Tshakhuma will participate in the PSL promotion / relegation playoffs after finishing second and third respectively in the NFD rankings.
They will be joined by the team that will finish 15th in the PSL standings this season.
