I see myself somewhere in Europe

Olwethu Makhanya's decision to leave South Africa for Philadelphia Union in the Major League Soccer (MLS) did not start as well as the former Stellenbosch FC defender may have hoped, but it has since paid off handsomely. The 21-year-old is a key figure at the heart of the best defence in the league for the 2025 season, and his focus now shifts to the MLS Play-offs. The Durban-born star sat down with Soccer Laduma's Matthew Petersen to discuss how his move to the US materialised, what he's learnt from his coach Bradley Carnell, facing off against Lionel Messi and his hopes to make Bafana Bafana's final squad at next year's FIFA World Cup in North America.

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Olwethu Makhanya's decision to leave South Africa for Philadelphia Union in the Major League Soccer (MLS) did not start as well as the former Stellenbosch FC defender may have hoped, but it has since paid off handsomely. The 21-year-old is a key figure at the heart of the best defence in the league for the 2025 season, and his focus now shifts to the MLS Playoffs. The Durban-born star sat down with Soccer Laduma's Matthew Petersen to discuss how his move to the US materialised, what he's learnt from his coach Bradley Carnell, facing off against Lionel Messi and his hopes to make Bafana Bafana's final squad at next year's FIFA World Cup in North America.

now there's the Eastern and Western Conference. In the playoffs, you get to play the other side of the league. As much as we do watch those teams, they're totally different, so we have to study them more because we're not used to them. The pressure is different, and as a team, we're also trying to prove that we're better than the West.

MP: What has coach Carnell done to help the boys stay focused on the task at hand? Is there extra pressure as the team top of the Eastern Conference?