Justin Modiba, who refers to Aubrey as his brother because they were so close during their childhood and were born in the same year, was picked in the final 18-man squad in the Nedbank Cup Ke Yona team search.
As part of the initiative, Justin will get to go on trial with Maritzburg United for a month.
Aubrey is excited to see his cousin finally taking his football career seriously and believes he has a shot at making it in the top flight of South African football.
The 22-year-old Aubrey now plays for SuperSport United after coming through the team search.
“I am so happy for him [Justin Modiba] because he has been through a lot since his childhood. He has the talent, but he was not serious about it. He had some issues, like his mother passing on. I think that affected him, so he did not want anything to do with football,” Aubrey tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“But maybe seeing me on the screens motivated him. He told me that he wants to join the Nedbank Ke Yona team search and I told him to do it. I think he will go far because he has been working hard. He is my cousin, but I call him my brother because we grew up like twins [always together].”
Justin, who turns 22 this month, plays as a right-back and has been inspired by how Aubrey has risen to the top of South African football; representing the senior national team Bafana Bafana, as well as the national Under-20s and Under-23s in a short space of time.
“I grew up playing soccer with Aubrey and now he is playing for SuperSport. He is a great example for me. We grew up like twins. We only separated when we were in grade eight because he went to the school of excellence, so I had to go stay with my grandmother because I lost my mother when I was doing grade seven,” Justin says.
"But I kept on playing soccer and I played for several teams, including Jomo Cosmos. I am looking forward to my time at Maritzburg. According to me, Maritzburg is a big team. They give young players a chance.”
The Ke Yona team search winners will play against 2017 Nedbank Cup winners SuperSport United on September 3.
“It will be Modiba against Modiba, which will be a dream come true. I am looking forward to that,” Justin adds.
"For that 90 minutes, I am going to forget a little bit about the fact that he is my brother. I am looking for a job, so I need to impress. You don’t stop working until you get what you are looking for.”