Golden Arrows winger Tebogo Tlolane has recalled the rare opportunity that paved his way to professional football almost eight years ago.
The 29-year-old has been with Abafana Bes’thende since the beginning of the season after his Orlando Pirates exit. The Soweto giants had signed him in 2019 from Chippa United.
During his stint at Pirates, he had three successful loan spells with Maritzburg United before they were relegated to the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
Remembering his entry into professional football, Tlolane says he was spotted by the South African football legend, Jomo Sono in 2016 when he played for a random team that was gathered by football agents for a friendly match against Jomo Cosmos.
He was looking for a breakthrough into a bigger stage having turned out for Yebo Yes FC in the ABC Motsepe League.
During a friendly with Cosmos, ten minutes into the game, ‘Bra J’ had already been caught by the then-skillful and pacy left-footer. And he invited him the following day to train with the club.
Tlolane went on to pen a deal with Ezenkosi at the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign.
TLOLANE RECALLS ’10 MINUTES’ THAT PAVED HIS WAY TO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
“To get signed by Jomo Cosmos, it was the big man himself who [scouted] me,” said Tlolane in the interview with FARPost.
“I remember we played a friendly and at that time I had left Yebo Yes but they still had my clearance. I thought it was time to step out of my comfort zone and search for…I felt I needed to play NFD football and from NFD to PSL football.
“At that time, I had an agent, he and different agents used to organise 12 or 15 guys to play friendlies against different teams.
“Then we played Jomo Cosmos but the MDC side. We gave them a tough game but we lost and they were like, ‘Nope, you guys are good enough to play against the first team’.
“And at that time, Jomo was still in the PSL, and we played their first team. I think it took about 10 minutes for Jomo to see me. He called someone to ask me how old I was, I told them.
“And then the following day, I was told to start training with Cosmos and that’s how it happened.”
Tlolane spoke highly of the former New York Cosmos star, Sono, acknowledging the impact he has made in South African football, unearthing talent and giving away opportunities.
‘OUR RELATIONSHIP GOES BEYOND JUST ME BEING HIS FORMER PLAYER’
“Myself and bra J, he’s my footballing father and I always mention it to him, he’s one person that it took 10 minutes to be like, ‘I want that boy’.
“And that 10 minutes changed my life.
“The relationship I have with him goes beyond just me being his former player but me looking at him and being like you took 10 minutes to see something that maybe other people weren’t seeing in 90 minutes, in five days or in 100 days,” he added.
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