Patrick Mabedi has spoken out on how the mentality that pushed him in his career was implanted through the experience of being discarded as a junior.
Mabedi was famous for his command of the backline at Kaizer Chiefs, where he spent eight years, before he then retired at Moroka Swallows in 2008.
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Born into a family of nine kids, Mabedi learnt the art of survival from an early age and would not be deterred by what happens in football.
"As a youth player, I had a sad experience that I now use as motivation for my players," says Mabedi.
"My late juniors coach at Bullets told me that I'm not a good player and will never make it, so I should go home and never come back again.
"I wanted to leave right away, but because my friend Acton Munthali, who now lives in the UK, was a star midfielder, I had to stay behind and wait for him.
"From there, what would happen is that even though I wasn't training with the team anymore, I still had to accompany my friend to training.
"Then when I got there, I would run around the field just to keep fit while I waited for him.
"A few weeks later, they were one player short for a practice match against the senior team and so the same coach called me in.
"Next thing, I was Man of the Match and a few weeks later I was promoted to the first team.
"So, this is an experience that I use as inspiration that you should never be discouraged by someone's opinion about you.
"If I had listened to the coach who told me that I wasn't good enough, then I would have never become what I became in football," adds Mabedi, who went on to become a success at Chiefs.
In eight years at Naturena, he started 230 games and won the league twice, Bob Save Super Bowl, Rothmans Cup/Coca-Cola (four times), BP Top 8 and the CAF Cup Winners' Cup.
These are trophies that he mostly won as captain.
"I became addicted to lifting trophies so much that I felt I needed to have my arms massaged every day [laughing]," jokes Mabedi.
"It was an addiction to win trophies at Chiefs because that is what we lived for.
"It was a mentality that was planted in our heads.
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"What helped me is that I was coming from a background of being a captain who was always lifting trophies.
"The one trophy that I hold dearly was the 2001 Cup Winners' Cup when I scored the goal that made the difference.
"I still have fond memories of Muhsin Ertugral because he taught me a lot as a player and then as a coach," says Mabedi, now the head coach of the Malawi national team.