Mathibe keeps other goalies on their toes!

Aubrey Mathibe. Photos by Gallo Images

Aubrey Mathibe Photos by Gallo Images

SOMETIMES in soccer, as in life, it is only a matter of being in the right spot at the right time.

And that has been true for much of current AmaZulu reserve goalkeeper Aubrey Mathibe’s career in the Premier Soccer League.

Despite being a benchwarmer for most of his time in the PSL Mathibe, who made only one start for his first professional club, Kaizer Chiefs, collected 11 winners medals at Amakhosi between 2001 and 2009, including the 2001 Africa Cup Winners Cup gold medal.

The lanky goal-minder then bagged the 2012 MTN8 cup with Moroka Swallows to take his tally of medals to 12 – despite being back-up to first choice keeper Greg Etafia at the club. SunSharp’s WALTER MABEBA spoke to Mathibe.

SunSharp: Not many players spend eight years at Kaizer Chiefs but then again, not many make only one competitive appearances in all that time!

Aubrey Mathibe: When I joined Chiefs, I was still very young and accepted my role as third choice goalkeeper behind Brian Baloyi, and later Rowen Fernandez and Emile Baron.

I knew competing against goalkeepers of their calibre meant I was not guaranteed a start. All three of them were excellent goalkeepers in their day and they all wanted to be No 1.

Competing with such goalkeepers was a good thing for me. I really learned a lot from them. It was obviously very frustrating, spending so many years without playing, but I am a strong and patient person.

I had hoped that one day I would get my chance, but it was not to be. I only managed one start – a 1-1 draw with the now defunct Bush Bucks in the 2002-03 season.

SS: Watching your teammates celebrate league and cup triumphs year after year, knowing that you contributed almost nothing, must get to you at some point. How did you feel getting big bonuses without playing?

AM: I am not sorry about my time at Chiefs. Like I said, I learned a lot, not only about football but also about life in general. Regarding my lack of game-time, I don’t like questioning a coach’s decisions. I just keep working hard.

Just being part of the team during those years meant something. I believe my presence at the club contributed in the sense that I was still competition for the other keepers and thus kept them on their toes.

Football is all about competition – if you don’t have stiff competition you may rest on your laurels. Despite my lack of game-time at Chiefs, I was still rated highly and got called up to the Bafana Bafana camp for the Cosafa Castle Cup in Mauritius in February 2005.

I will always view my professional football career with pride and have no regrets.

SS: You were also on the books of Moroka Swallows and Thanda Royal Zulu (on loan) before you joined AmaZulu last season. Why leave Chiefs in the first place?

AM: As further proof of my worth at Chiefs, they were reluctant to let me go, but I had already made up my mind even if I had to take a pay cut at Swallows.

Competition is a good thing, especially in goalkeeping. I was really looking forward to a new challenge and despite playing second fiddle, I was happy to get more game-time at Swallows than at Chiefs.

It has been tough being a back-up goalkeeper but even now at AmaZulu I know that I have to remain on top of my game, should injury or suspension strike.

And I may have struggled to become first choice keeper at various clubs, but I was No 1 at Thanda Royal Zulu, where I showed that I am not an easy man to get past. At Thanda I always motivated my teammates by saying: “Fortune favours the brave”.

I would be unhappy if I was no longer playing in the PSL. I am now in my 15th year as a professional player and my career is something I still cherish.