Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick ‘Tito’ Maswanganyi has been sent reminders about his time in Europe as he plots his way to another fruitful season.
Maswanganyi has travelled with Pirates to Spain, who share a border with Portugal, where he spent three years before getting his break in the Betway Premiership.
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The 27-year-old went to Europe from Stars of Africa Academy, joining a long list of players who took the same route before they even played professional on the domestic scene.
"We brought Tito here because he had the qualities that we had identified at the academy," says Nadime Mahmoud.
Mahmoud – who is involved at Stars of Africa and holds several portfolios in the game – engineered Maswanganyi's move to Portugal in 2019 after taking him from Stars of Africa academy.
In Portugal, the Tembisa-born star played for lower division club Oliveirense, before switching to Academica's U23 team.
He then returned home to join SuperSport United and since then has grown into an influential star at Bucs over the last two years.
"The first year was for preparing and didn’t go to the best teams while here, which is normal, but it is part of the process of preparation.
"Tito will be the first to admit that his time in Portugal contributed towards the player that he has grown to become now.
"With the team that he went to here (Oliveirense), it wasn’t one where you stay for long but one that provides the opportunity to break the ice here in Europe.
"Players come to these clubs for preparation because you cannot straight away go to the big clubs.
"The system, food, environment, weather, and being away from family is all part of the process for players coming from Africa.
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"Plenty of the players that come here get injured in the first year because we don’t invest in physical training back home.
"So, he didn’t impress the first year and that is why we moved him, but we are glad about the progress he has since made," says Mahmoud.
Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
