A former PSL striker pulled no punches when he opened up on his struggles during his stints in the SA top flight.
The player gave his honest opinion on what set him back in the SA elite league when he got a chance to represent Baroka FC and Moroka Swallows.
The talented frontman made the revelations in an interview with FARPost, explaining how he was overlooked and how coaches did not have much faith in him.
To make matters worse, he also revealed that he was told on his first training session that he wouldn’t be used by his then-mentor at Baroka, Matsemela Thoka.
The player in question is Naeem Amoojee who also mentioned that he regrets leaving Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila [TTM] for Baroka in the PSL at the time.
NAEEM AMOOJEE: ‘THE COACH DIDN’T BELIEVE IN ME’
“I regret leaving TTM because the chairman Mr Lawrence Mulaudzi had a lot of faith in me. He’s the one who gave me my first professional contract,” the 27-year-old forward told this publication.
“Obviously, when a PSL team comes knocking you gonna go. But I played my best football at TTM. The people of Limpopo really loved me there. They even gave me my own name. I remember chairman Mulaudzi said nobody just gets a nickname here in Venda and I had my own nickname. My nickname was “Mashudu”. That was my second home.
“But I left because obviously, my dream was to play in the PSL. I went to Baroka, but TTM was already in the PSL. It was unfortunate that I left before they got the status [purchasing Bidvest Wits status].”
Amoojee continued: “The coach didn’t believe in me. The coach at the time was coach Thoka. My first training session I remember he told me; “look, I know you are a striker but we are not going to use you because we got Evidence Makgopa already.”
“So, he had already put me down in my first training session and my confidence was already down. I didn’t have a good time there. I was then loaned out to TS Sporting and also there I struggled to find my form.
“But when I went back to TTM, I was back on form and I was on fire again when they went back to NFD after buying Royal AM status.”
NAEEM ON SWALLOWS STRUGGLES
The striker went on to reveal that playing out of position and not afforded enough game time affected his form. The last straw was when he suffered his injury setback at training sessions upon coach Ernst Middendorp’s arrival at Swallows.
“I then went Swallows [2022] I really had a good pre-season there. I was on trial there. I was scoring goals, and I remember scoring a bicycle kick against Tuks. But come league games, I’m not playing, coming in the last five minutes of the game and they expect you to do wonders. It’s really sad,” he added.
“I was even playing out of position. I was at right-back or right-wing at times. Then people ask how many goals have you scored? But I was not even playing as a striker, and you can’t even tell them but just to walk away and keep quiet.
“When it was the World Cup break, I got injured at training. I couldn’t walk for weeks because of my lower back. After that injury, they brought in coach Ernst Middendorp and I didn’t play the whole season.
“So, it’s very painful. I was so excited to be at Swallows because my dad was a Swallows supporter. So, it was one of my dreams to play for Swallows.”
Amoojee left Swallows in July 2023 when the side decided not to renew his contract.
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