Evidence Makgopa

Sekotori Evidence Makgopa (born 5 June 2000) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a forward for South African Premiership side Orlando Pirates and the South Africa national team. He represented the South Africa under-23 team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Quotes I didn’t really play football until I was 13. I played street football, but I never played in a match. My life was dedicated to school. I studied every day, including Saturday and Sunday, and had to walk over ten kilometres to get to school and over ten kilometres to get home. And when I did have time, I was paranoid that I would play in a game and make a mistake, so I just stuck to kicking a ball on the streets. Then when I was 13 someone spotted me playing street football and said, ‘This boy can play’. Then I started playing in matches for the first time in my village That was too unrealistic to even dream about for someone from my village. Growing up in a small, rural area, you don’t really think about making it in life, yet alone football. I had a file for school and I filled it with newspaper clippings about footballers. I used to look at them as I walked to school and think, ‘How good must it be to be that player? He must have an amazing life.’ But dreaming about doing what he was doing was too unrealistic. If you had told me then I would become a professional footballer I would have thought you were completely crazy. My dream was to make it in life. This was something out of a crazy dream. I didn’t think I was good enough to become a professional footballer. I had a lot of doubts. But then I said to myself, ‘I can’t let this opportunity go. I have to give it everything.’ I only played professional football for the first time 15 months earlier and there I was representing Bafana Bafana. I was really, really nervous beforehand, but I said to myself, ‘Get your head down, be humble, work hard, you know you can do this’. Fortunately everything went according to plan. I scored a brace and we won. I realised a dream that day. I remember having a video call with my family after the game But I also wanted to give absolutely everything I had to justify this incredible opportunity. Someone had believed in me, given me a chance, perhaps over an experienced player. I was very grateful and I wanted to repay that. I can say that I’m proud of my performances, especially the game against France. I scored a goal, I hit the post and I feel I got the better of their defenders. It was a great experience. You think about all the great players who have played in the Olympics, all the great athletes from other sports, and it makes the feeling of being an Olympian really something. I think my biggest qualities are my finishing, my aerial game and my movement. From where I come from, I knew it was going to be really difficult for me to make it, so I knew I had to go that extra mile. So I started studying players off YouTube and I think this has really helped me. Since I started playing as a striker, I’ve been studying Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tammy Abraham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Lebo Mothiba. For movement, I have learned a lot from Cavani. For technique, Ibrahimovic. For protecting the ball, Mothiba. I still study players on YouTube. It has helped me a lot. And in every single game. I know that there may be a striker who is faster than me, more skilful, a better finisher, and I can’t do anything about that. But I can control if I work harder than him, and I make absolutely sure that I do. I never want to give a coach, in any game throughout my career, the opportunity to criticise my work-rate. I would rather die on the pitch. South African people are very passionate about football. It’s very personal to them. They will come up to you and criticise you, but then they will try to pick you up for the next game. Evidence: I didn’t think I was good enough to become a professional, November 2021, FIFA,by Reporter External links Category:2000 births Category:Living people Category:Soccer players from South Africa