Mamelodi Sundowns’ ACTION to extend Thapelo Morena’s contract should have wiped away the tears of this player who missed out on the Caf Champions League final, missing out on a place in Bafana Bafana who are busy preparing for the World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America (USA).
Morena (32), who has played 350 games for Sundowns in different competitions, did not play in the 2016 Champions League final because he was not registered in Caf since he had just arrived in Chloorkop to be trained by Pitso “Jingles” Mosimane. This player, whose contract was extended for a year in Chloorkop, was from Bloemfontein Celtic.
Although Sundowns gave him a gold medal, it must have broken his spirit to sit with the fans when Sundowns lifted the Champions League trophy after defeating AS FAR from Morocco a few weeks ago due to injury.
This injury cost him a place in Hugo Broos’ Bafana squad, which is tied in Group A of the World Cup with Mexico, the Czech Republic and South Korea. The efforts of the Sundowns medical team working together with Bafana were unsuccessful as Morena did not recover in time.
Sundowns’ confirmation on their social media pages of the extension of Morena’s contract, who is entering his 11th season at the Chloorkop club, must have softened his heart.
“In my career in football, I have never tried everything I know and failed as happened to Morena,” said Thulani Ngwenya who is Bafana’s doctor last week.
“We worked until the morning of the day the squad was supposed to be announced, but it was clear that a decision had to be made to leave him, which was difficult for Hugo (Broos),” said Ngwenya.
Regarding Morena’s absence, Broos lamented and came back with support that Thapelo Maseko who plays in Cyprus and Kamohelo Sebelebele of Orlando Pirates can take his place.
“He is one of the core players of our team, that’s why we gave him every chance to recover so that we can go with him to the World Cup.
“That didn’t happen but it’s not that bad because there are bad guys who can cover his place even though they don’t come close to him in terms of experience,” said Broos.
Morena has a number of different cups for Sundowns, including eight in the South African league.