Volume 54 Issue 6- June 2016 : Sports

Q: Why did you decide to retire from football?

A: “I feel I`ve done my part. I actually decided to retire from football last year, but Mochudi Centre Chiefs officials asked me to continue playing for another season.  This year I felt that I had to call it quits and make way for others.

Q: Tell us a bit about your background

A: I am a 34 year old, turning 35 next November. I was born in Gaborone on 28 November 1981 and raised in two of the capital`s neighbourhoods- White City and Broadhurst Extension 27. My mother raised my three brothers and I as a single mother, with our grandfather Bothojwamotho Moloi also playing his part.  All four of us became footballers.  My older brother, Lieutenant ‘Lefty` Moloi played for Paymaster Spurs, while my younger brothers Dirang and Pako ended up in the premier league.

Q: When did you start playing organized football?

A: When I was growing up I played Chappies Little League football for Manchester- Joper Osupile`s Notwane development side of the 1990s- then Broadhurst Young Strikers, and then Notwane juniors.  I broke into the senior Notwane side as a teenager in 1998, the season the club won the Super League, and I only played a couple of games that year.

 

Q: As a teenager how did you cope with Super League football?

A: Paul Moyo was the Notwane coach then, and he believed in me enough to give me a run in the first team, and among my teammates Fabian Zulu was always encouraging me. I played alongside great players such as Shono ‘Madonzela` Ngaka, Innocent Ranku, Thazo Thiwayo, Phadza Butale and others.

 

Q: You left Notwane after eight years (1998-2006) in their senior squad, and joined Mochudi Centre Chiefs.  How did this come about?

A: Ernest Molome had just become the Centre Chiefs chairman and he told me he wanted to build a great team around me.  He told me his plans to have the side dominate the local game with me as its anchor, and this motivated me to join.  It was not about the money or anything, they just came across as ambitious and they believed in me enough to make me vice captain, then later captain.”

 

Q: You spent ten years (2006-2016) at Centre Chiefs, leading the club to four league titles, including their first ever championship in 2008, the season Chiefs won all cups and finished the campaign unbeaten.

A: Yes, previous generations helped build Centre Chiefs into what it is, we just took the club to another level.  I played with great players at the club.  When I got there I was vice captain to Noah ‘Stooge` Kareng, and later I assumed the full captaincy.  OT (Oteng Moalosi) was my favourite teammate, what an intelligent player! Talk Talk (Tshepo Motlhabankwe) was another great player I worked with.

 

Q: What are some of you memories with the national team?

A: I played for the Zebras for eight years (2004-2012). I earned my first cap in 2004, and was part of the Zebras set up until 2012.  Qualifying for AFCON 2012 was a major highlight. At the tournament in Gabon, we shared a hotel with a Mali side, which had Seydou Keita, a former Barcelona player.

 

Q: What is your most memorable match for the Zebras?

A: The 2008 game against Ivory Coast, at the National Stadium.  That day, I played really well, and we were leading 1-0 when I was substituted.  It ended 1-all, we drew with an Ivorian side with stars like Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Ebue, Siaka Tienne and Didier Zokora that day. After the match they came to shake my hand and say I am a good footballer.

Q: You had a reputation as a player without discipline in your younger days, but you seemed to mature with age.  How did this come about?

A: Many people don`t know this, but there was a time Jelusic Veselin (then the national coach) dropped me from the Zebras squad after he saw me red carded in a game for Notwane.  His words to me then, and the Centre Chiefs decision to give me the responsibility of captaincy made me grow up.  I stopped making rash tackles and arguing with referees.

Q: What will you do now that you`re retired from playing football?

A: Centre Chiefs have offered me a role within their management, so for now I will still be part of the game.

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