Just as Prince Nxumalo was about to realise his dream of playing for Bafana Bafana, it was dashed by epileptic attacks he suffered which also denied him a chance to play in his first major cup final.
But thanks to his Ajax Cape Town teammates getting the better of Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 final in September, the Umlazi-born striker finished what had been a rocky year as a champion.
That’s how the life of the 25-year-old has been like, starting with him making huge strides, followed by heartbreak and disappointment. But it always ends up with him bouncing back stronger and more determined.
It started when he lost his mother in 1998, and his father the following year, before the age of 10. The presence of his grandmother filled the void left by this parents and it fortified him.
“I never thought that I would make it far in football because I never played in any development structures when I was young,” Nxumalo said. “But somehow I managed to get here.
“I owe that to the work my grandmother did in grounding me and telling me that in life I will get a lot of challenges, but I should never give up. It’s an attitude that I picked up at an early age.
“The only thing that makes me sad is that my grandmother never got to see me turn professional because I signed for FC Cape Town just after she had passed away.”
Nxumalo turned pro in 2010 when he made the trip to the Mother City, and he got his big break with SuperSport United from 2012-2015 but he saw limited game time and was sent on loan to Golden Arrows.
Cape Town came calling once again and his career was revived where it started. In his first month at Ajax he collected the Player of the Month award for his exploits in August last year, scoring three goals in three games.
Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba was among those who were impressed and called him up for the national squad who would play friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras in October.
But Nxumalo couldn’t honour that call-up because of multiple epileptic episodes on the morning of the Urban Warriors clash with Wits in the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final on August 30. He was immediately rushed to hospital.
Having barely recovered, he suffered another attack just before Ajax took on Mamelodi Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium on September 23.
“My siblings told me that I should come back home immediately, they were surprised and worried why was this happening so frequently because it was the first time it happened in my life,” Nxumalo said.
“Before that it had never happened. They were worried. I am the last-born and they have always been protective of me. I told them that I will be fine and that they shouldn’t worry.”
The striker has since been in fine form, returning to his scoring-best which saw him score seven goals before Wednesday’s match against Mpumalanga Black Aces.
After the impasse between Ajax and Safa was resolved, Nxumalo travelled to Angola with his clubmates to represent South Africa in the CAF Confederation Cup against Sagrada Esperanca. The Cape club had initially pulled out of the competition fearing the safety of their players.
Safa hit back and told them to honour the fixture or face their wrath. This will be Nxumalo’s second trip to Angola in the continental competition after travelling there with SuperSport, who also played in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt in the 2013 edition where they were eliminated in the second round.
“It would mean a lot for me to play there because like any other player in the country, I would love to represent it,” he said.
“Playing in the continent is a good experience. We are a young squad. It would make us grow. I remember how painful it was seeing Bafana Bafana play those friendlies without me. This opportunity would ease some of that pain.” - Weekend Argus