Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has offered thought-provoking insight into what drives him within the coaching profession.
Mngqithi, 53, has been coaching in the Premier Soccer League since 2007 when he joined Golden Arrows, where prior he coached in the amateur ranks and was a school teacher.
During his three-year stint at Arrows he produced several national team players and won the 2009 MTN8 title in record-breaking fashion with a 6-0 win over Ajax Cape Town.
He went on to have spells at AmaZulu, Chippa United and another stint at Arrows before Pitso Mosimane lured him to Sundowns in 2013 as his assistant coach, where he’s managed to carve a successful career as an assistant, co-coach and now the leader of the first-team squad.
“The truth is, I think I have failed a lot in many things in my life and the reason why I failed is because I have one drive,” he explained on what keeps him going.
“And that has made me not have a very balanced lifestyle, I’m a person who loves winning and I always thought winning was everything, I always want to put myself in the podium and win as much as I can.
“Possibly to try and follow a certain extent, my names, because it’s a driving force as well -I want to conquer as much as I can, and I like it when I conquer and not be feared, it means I can continuously conquer.
“But more than anything? What brought me to football, there’s things I love in football, one of them is winning, and the second is goals, any form of foals, counter-attacks, set-pieces, transition, I just like to see goals.
“Even as a young boy going to the stadium, when people said it was a good match but it was 0-0, I was always on the other side because I went to a match to see someone winning and to see goals, it’s something I always had.
“I like part of it because I don’t think I come out as a person that is arrogant, but I try the best I can do with what I have.”
Mngqithi will be aiming for his first piece of silverware as sole head coach this weekend when they take on Magesi in the Carling Knockout final at the Toyota Stadium.
