Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana star Aubrey Modiba has revealed that an opposing player from Mali advised him to move to Europe after being impressed with the wing-back in their opening Group E match at the AFCON.
Modiba was one of the South African players that stood out in the first match despite the 2-0 loss in the tournament opener.
He spoke to iDiski Times senior writer Velile Mnyandu from their base in Korhogo, where he also spoke about the exposure of the tournament through broadcasters.
The Postman, as Modiba is affectionately known, adds that he has achieved some of his dreams so far and going to Europe is still a box he wants to tick.
“Yeah, funny enough after the game that guy from Mali asked me where I’m playing,” Modiba told iDiski Times when asked whether he dreams about going to Europe.
“I said I’m playing in South Africa and he said ‘no, my friend you need to go overseas’ (chuckles). That’s what he said and I was like ‘Oh, actually, there are like a lot of opportunities here’.
“I think I said it is a huge tournament, being broadcasted by… is it SkySports in England, UK? It shows the importance of this tournament and scouts, the network, millions of people are watching this tournament and you will never know who’s watching.
“I think it’s up to us as players to raise our hand to be able to get that recognition. Like you said, it’s every child’s dream. It’s been my dream ever since I was a kid to play for one of the big teams in the PSL and make it abroad and play for Bafana Bafana as well.
“So I think it’s up to us as players because the scouting department is very huge here. It’s closer to Europe, it’s not far from Europe and yeah you never know who is watching us”
You can read Modiba’s full interview with Mnyandu in the current edition 138 of the newspaper available on the website.
