Long-serving Polokwane City FC forward Puleng Marema, formerly Tlolane, has opened up on setbacks and achievements of his 13-year career following a 300-match milestone.
Marema played his 300th match for ‘Rise and Shine’ during the 1-0 win against Chippa United on Saturday in a Betway Premiership tie.
The 33-year-old joined the club in 2012 while they were still in the Motsepe Foundation Championship. Besides the 300 matches, Marema is also the club’s all-time top goal scorer with 67 goals.
WHY REACHING THE 300 MATCHES IS A SPECIAL MILESTONE FOR POLOKWANE CITY CAPTAIN
“It was a special day for me, my team and my family. It’s been a great journey. I think I have had a great career,” said Marema. “So for me to be here for so many years and achieve massive milestones, I can only be proud of myself.
“To all the coaches that I have worked with, I thank them for being in my journey, the team, the chairman [Johnny Mogaladi] and everyone in the team. So I am just happy.”
He added: “I hope our youngsters take one or two things from me. Hopefully, I won’t be the first and last one, and there will be another one who reaches the milestone.”
PULENG MAREMA EXPLAINS WHY HE HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT LEAVING RISE AND SHINE
Marema also opened up on how he nearly left the club after offers from other clubs when Polokwane City got relegated in 2020.
“I was one of those players who wanted to leave because everyone wants to play in the PSL,” he explained. “So for the team to go down, it was not in my mind, but I had to sit down with the team and the chairman. He spoke about how he wanted the team to return, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen. But playing 300 games is an achievement but the biggest achievement was to take the team back to the PSL.”
“I don’t regret staying at Polokwane City. I think it’s a blessing in disguise because I am not sure if maybe I would have achieved such a milestone if I had gone to other teams. So I don’t regret not leaving the team.”
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