Bafana Bafana hero Mihlali Mayambela, who scored the goal that took South Africa to the Africa Cup of Nations, has revealed he almost quit football due to comparisons with his brother Mark Mayambela.
Mark Mayambela, who is also affectionally known as “the Professor”, is nine years older than Mihlali and left his mark on South African football between 2007 and 2020.
He was part of the Orlando Pirates squad that famously won the double-treble, and also had stints with Bloemfontein Celtic, Ajax Cape Town and Chippa United, among others. He is currently developing his coaching skills in the ranks of Cape Town Coity.
Mihlali, 26, grew up with the pressures carried by the Mayambela name, and moved overseas fairly early in his career, spending the last seven years in Sweden, Portugal, Israel, and is now on the books Aris Limassol in Cyprus.
His fine performances overseas haven’t gone unnoticed and Hugo Broos called him into his Bafana squad in September 2022, when he scored on debut against Sierra Leone.
While his brother Mark never represented the national team, Mihlali’s career reached a new height when he scored the 2-1 winner against Liberia that took Broos’ men to the upcoming AFCON, and the younger Mayambela brother recently opened up on the pressures that came with his family name.
“It was hard in the beginning because I was compared to my brother Mark all the time, I almost stopped playing football,” he told SAFA.
“I left SA at 18 daring to be different, to be my own man, my own player, and for the comparison to stop, it worked, luckily for me.”
Overall, Mihlali Mayambela has now made four appearances for Bafana, starting both the games against Sierra Leone and in Liberia, while coming off the bench against Botswana and in the 2-2 home draw with the Lone Stars.
