I am not a crybaby

Last season, Black Leopards came within a point of securing a position in the promotional Play-Offs, thanks in large part to the safe hands of their goalkeeper, Cyril Chibwe. The 32-year-old, whose career spans various clubs, proved to be one of the most reliable goalkeepers in the league. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Thomas Kwenaite, he expresses the pain he felt after losing to Durban City, a loss that affected Black Leopards' promotional chances. He also reveals how, as a young goalkeeper, he had successful trials with Kaizer Chiefs, but Stuart Baxter told him that the club needed someone who could play right away and challenge Itumeleng Khune. The Rustenburg-born goalkeeper also reveals why he turned down the national call-up to represent Bafana Bafana and chose Zambia.

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Thomas Kwenaite: Cyril, how painful was it to fail by a single point to make it into the promotional/releg ion Play-Offs?

Cyril Chibwe: It was really pai ailing by a point because we had it n the palm of our hands. We smelt it and felt we really stood a good chance. But I feel we were disappointed in ourselves. Prior to the last game, the previous two games against Casric Stars and Durban City, I think that's where we lost it because had we won these two games we would be talking a different story. The Durban City game really dented our chances because, had ve won that one, it would have been straight to the Play-Offs, even if ost our last game.

TK: Could changing coaches am aps have something to do with Black Leopards losing their footing a 173 bit?

CC: The changing of coaches, to be honest, can sometimes make or break the team. There are players who adip quicker, but there are others who take more time to adapt. With the previous Coach, you can understand, we started the season with him, and he left in January. So, you can imagine there was an attachment, he was close to the players and maybe that also distracted quite a few players. I think after that, we took our foot off the pedal a bit.

TK: Leopards went through a w ole during the middle of the season before picking up form again towa the end. What caused that wobble when they produced inconsistent results?

CC: I think we went through seven games without a win, and it was a ot. Then they brought in coach Zeca Marques, coach Joel Masutha coach Abel Makhubela. We tried, but It didn't work out with coach Zeca, and he also left. We were then left with coach Masutha and Makhubela and the funny part is we started picking up points. After coach Zeca left, we were a bit distracted. I think at least coach Masutha knew the system and the culcure. The moment they appointed him as the head coach, the players were more open, and we started doing well.