Former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana has revealed what he told his son during the special farewell Mamelodi Sundowns had organised for him.
The celebration took place during the half-time of Sundowns 1-0 win over AmaZulu at Loftus Stadium on Sunday.
Kekana, who had announced his retirement from the beautiful game last month, brought his mother and son to share the special occasion, during which he was also handed a memorabilia trophy by club chairman Thlopie Motsepe.
The 37-year-old is regarded as the most successful captain in the Tshwane giants’ history after winning six league titles, two Nedbank Cups, MTN8 and two Telkom Knockout trophies. He also captained the side that claimed the holy grail – the CAF Champions League in 2016 and CAF Super Cup the following year. Overall, Kekana featured in 318 matches, scoring 47 goals.
“I feel honoured to be celebrated this way. It never happened before in my whole life of 19 years being a professional player,” Kekana told Downs media team.
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“I have never been celebrated like this. I don’t know how I feel now, but when I get home I will try to look at the video. My son was there and he asked me why they were singing for me? I said ‘those trophies you saw in the living room of ours, it was because of the magnificent performance your dad used to give’.
“’If you want one of those trophies’ because I gave him a trophy today, ‘you need to better what your dad did’. It was a special moment for me to bring him here to witness the beautiful moment.”
When Kekana left Sundowns, there was an opportunity for him that once he retires, he will be given a role and he now confirmed that he will speak to the powers at the club to see whether the offer still stands.
“When I left the club, the opportunity was there for me to be part of the team,” he said.
“I will speak to the owners of the team, try and check if the opportunity is still there because remember that was a year ago.
“If it is still there, wow, I’ll be a very lucky guy from the village (in Zebediela in Limpopo). But it is something I’m working on. I have been working with so many coaches and they have inspired me to be the player that I was, the person that I’m.”
