Tonic Chabalala has revealed how he managed to stop legendary Kaizer Chiefs striker Collins Mbesuma from scoring against Orlando Pirates in a Soweto Derby.
The former defender spent four years at Pirates and was given the special task of man-marking the most feared striker in the PSL at the time.
Check out how Chabalala used to stick close to his man in the pictures above!
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Mbesuma scored a whopping 34 goals in all competitions in his second season with Amakhosi in 2004/05, scoring against almost every team he played against.
With the exception of Pirates, who had a designated defender to guard him for 96 minutes or so.
"As a defender, before a game I would study the players I would be playing against and I knew what to do when marking skilfull, tough players," Chabalala tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"For example, I knew how to deal with players who relied on stepovers. With Collins, if you give him a chance to turn he will finish you. I had to stick with him, and leave him for a while and stick to him again.
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"Because I knew that this guy if you stick to him for like two seconds he will use you to turn and score a goal. So I would stick to him, give him space again, but I would make sure he doesn't turn and shoot.
"I think today's defenders should know their strong points because you cannot be good in every area. There'll be [times] where you are lacking and there's [times] where we are strong. So with Collins I knew that he's strong, but he shouldn't turn. I must be first on the ball and make sure angibhayizi [I don't lose focus].
"I still remember in the first half the coach didn't tell me to mark Collins, it just happened. Because I remember I was playing with Papi Khomane. I took that responsibility by myself that 'no, this one I'll be with him the whole game' and I did exactly that.
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"After that Derby they knew that he was mine. Imagine playing a Derby for the first time ever in front of 80 000 people at FNB. As a defender you can't just attack, you must know your primary job is to defend. So it boils back to maximum concentration you see.
"Use a strategy and tell yourself, 'Because this guy is a menace I will need to distract him to put him off.' You see me on the field, I wouldn't talk to opponents. I would tackle him [Mbesuma] and he would realise I'm dead serious. I didn't say a word to him. He would sometimes say 'I want to show this guy something' only to find that at that moment I don't even entertain him."
Chabalala admits though that the Zambian goalpoacher was his most difficult opponent in his whole football career.
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"Ja he was, ja he was. I knew how to handle him but it was not easy. Judging by the two Derbies I played against him, I think I managed," Chabalala adds.
"You see that man is a box-player, he knew that he was strong, his thighs, his hands, strong on the foot... if you could lapse concentration for two seconds you would be punished.
"And at that time his confidence was very high. You know it's not easy to stop a confident player. So I had to come up with a plan."
Mbesuma's first and only goal in the Soweto Derby only came in 2012 when he scored in the colours of Pirates in a 1-1 draw with Chiefs.
READ: Mbesuma: How I played for all big three