I Just Can't Pack Up And Leave

After missing out on the Af-rica Cup of Nations in Egypt earlier this year, SuperSport United winger Aubrey Modiba is back in the Bafana Bafana set-up and is determined to keep his place going forward. With the great start he has made to the season, the former Mpumalanga Black Aces player has a good chance of getting regular call-ups and maybe even attracting overseas interest, as it’s his dream to make a move abroad. A move to Mamelodi Sundowns did not materialise in the last transfer window, but he has put that behind him and is fully focused on serving Matsatsantsa. They’ve already won the MTN8 this season and now the big challenge is to see if SuperSport can go on to challenge for the Absa Premiership title. In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane, Modiba shares his excitement about being back in the national team, winning the MTN8 and why he was not too disheartened after the Downs move did not happen.

- Tshepang Mailwane

Tshepang Mailwane: Aubrey, let’s start by talking about Bafana Bafana. How does it feel to be back in the national team?

Aubrey Modiba: The last time I was part of the squad was during the (2019 Africa Cup of Nations) qualifiers. It’s an honour to be back and it feels good. It shows that there’s something I’ve been doing good and the coach (Molefi Ntseki) could see that. It’s not easy to make it into the national team because there are a lot of good players in the PSL and abroad. So, it feels great and I’m just happy to be back. Now it’s up to me to be a regular by working hard and making sure that I help the country.

TM: How important was it to get the 1-0 win over Sudan for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign?

AM: I think it was an important win for us. We’ve got three points and it gives us a boost going forward because we need to collect as many points as we can in order for us to qualify for Afcon. I think it was a massive win for us, even though I feel we could have won by a big margin. But a win is a win and three points is the most important thing after our defeat against Ghana, so we had to bounce back and win the game.

TM: Going into the game against Sudan, what was the message from coach Molefi Ntseki, as it came just a few days after the defeat to Ghana?

AM: He just told us to put the defeat against Ghana behind us because we can’t dwell on that. We needed to focus on the next game, which was Sudan. We watched their games, analysed them. The coach told us that we win some games and we lose some. Unfortunately, we happened to be on the losing side against Ghana. I think the build-up played a big role in us coming back from that defeat.

TM: What would you say went wrong in the 2-0 defeat to the Black Stars?