Hero’s welcome for Chiefs player whilst visiting his home village

Silas Nduvheni

LIMPOPO – KAIZER Chiefs player, Mulomo wa ndau Erick Mathoho received a hero’s welcome when he visited his home village of Tshiombo outside Thohoyandou last Saturday.

Mathoho (25) was born and raised in Tshiombo village and used to play for Tshiombo XI Securitas.

During his visit, he organised a match between Tshiombo and Mangondi soccer teams, and said he was encouraged to see young players take soccer seriously.

“I was impressed by the way I saw young players in my home village play soccer. I organised a soccer tournament and some awards to those who played well to encourage them to improve their soccer skills,” said Mathoho.

He said while he was still playing for his home village team, he never thought he would rise in such a way that he could be regarded as one of the best players of a well-known team such as Kaizer Chiefs.

“One must know that you start small, but if you improve your soccer skills, one day you could reach the sky.

“It is about hard work, practising every time and learning more soccer skills,” he added.

Mathoho also encouraged the young stars to also take education seriously as soccer was a short career.

One of the elders and chairperson of the Tshiombo XI Securitas soccer team, Khorommbi “Terror” Nemuramba said Mathoho started to develop his soccer skills at the team, but he never thought he would eventually play in one of the greatest teams such as Chiefs.

“We are very proud of him as we raised him here and he used to show his enthusiasm in playing soccer and now he has reached the sky,” Nemuramba said.