In this edition of My Welcome to the League Moment, KickOff catches up with former Tembisa Classic player Victor Tshabalala.
Tshabalala, who now works as a coach, reflects on Tembisa Classic's first official match against the formidable Mamelodi Sundowns.
For Tshabalala, facing a star-studded Sundowns side was his biggest challenge in Premier Soccer League football.
"My welcome to the league moment happened in the year 2000, after Tembisa Classic was promoted to the PSL from the National First Division," he tells KickOff.com.
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"I still remember our first game was in Cape Town, and was followed by our second game against Mamelodi Sundowns at Odi Stadium.
"I'm talking about the Sundowns team that featured Joel 'Fire' Masilela, Lovers Mohlala, Isaac Shai, Kenny Niemach, Alex 'Barnes' Bapela, Roger Feutmba, Charles Motlohi, and John Tlale.
"At that time, the only experienced players we had at Classic were Sello 'Page' Mahlangu, Innocent Mayoyo, Arthur Zwane, and Sipho Khuse.
"When we arrived at Odi Stadium, we started talking amongst ourselves, saying, 'Today we are going to show these Sundowns players a thing or two, they can't take us for granted. We're going to give them a tough game, they won't have it easy'."
The Sundowns players responded, saying, 'Eish, these boys talk too much, and they haven't even received their first salaries' [laughs].
"Mind you, all of this was happening in the middle of a league match. Our coach, Khabo Zondo, was shouting instructions at me, and I was playing as a left-back, marking Masilela. I remember Feutmba releasing a great pass to Masilela, who sprinted towards our goal and delivered an excellent cross. Kenny Niemach connected well with the cross, but his header hit the crossbar.
"After realizing I was in for a tough day against Masilela, I decided to try to unsettle him mentally. I said to him, 'Fire, remember you're a national team player now, so I've been tasked with kicking you out of the Bafana Bafana squad today, watch out!' His response was, 'Ah, ngikubonile ukuthi uyisilima vele!' [laughs].
"After I said that, he didn't give me any trouble, he changed positions and ran away. He seemed scared I would kick him!
"Later, I realized that the main difference between the PSL and the National First Division is the amount of space you have in the PSL. In the NFD, it's tight marking all the time. You need confidence to survive as a player in the PSL."