JOHANNESBURG - The familiar surroundings - from the coach to several players he was teammates with at Kaizer Chiefs - has helped Mandla Masango quickly adapt at SuperSport United.
That has seen the on-loan Randers FC midfielder make a seamless transition to Matsatsantsa a Pitori. The Tshwane-side is looking to win the Absa Premiership for the first time in seven years and retain the Nedbank Cup they lifted in May last year, just five months into Stuart Baxter’s tenure.
Masango scored a brace to help Matsatsantsa beat Maritzburg United 4-1 in only his third match in his reunion with Baxter.
“It boils down to the things that we did before with the coach,” Masango said. “The players have been really amazing towards me, helping me to settle in quickly because I know what type of patterns the coach uses. I was unfit when I arrived. But I worked on it to ensure that I am ready.
“The goals that I scored did me a world of good because as a player you always want to contribute towards the club’s success. I try to do my best whenever I am given a chance because you never know what tomorrow holds.”
Masango’s future is uncertain. He is still contractually tied with Randers and should return there at the end of the season. But judging by how he left, as a frustrated figure, he will do so begrudgingly if forced.
He has done enough to convince SuperSport to try and keep him longer. The final say, though, rests on Randers.
The club didn’t want to release him to any Danish side despite interest there.
“It’s a tricky question,” Masango said after laughing at being asked where he would like to be next season. “My main focus is here. After the season ends, that will take care of itself.”
It wasn’t all gloomy at Randers, especially in the beginning. Masango scored on debut and went on to be voted by the club’s supporters as their Player of the Season in a local newspaper. His time in Denmark took his defensive game to another level.
“There isn’t much difference to the Mandla that left South Africa to this one. It’s just that I have learnt a few fundamentals that side. I combine that with what I already knew, which has helped me grow.
“That side (in Denmark), you play more as a box-to-box player even if you are a winger. You don’t just stand on the flanks and wait for the ball. You have to defend, too. We do the same thing here at SuperSport which helps the team to be compact. That’s why it is not easy to break us and score against us. If we have a good foundation, it makes our life easier going forward because we press our opponents very high.”
That pressing has helped Matsatsantsa to match Chiefs’ record 19-game unbeaten run in the league. But SuperSport’s unbeaten run has too many draws - 10 in total, which has seen them fail to break free from the chasing pack.
The club put their league campaign on hold on Sunday with a CAF Confederation Cup clash in Sudan against Al Ahly Shendi. Masango was in the country, because he isn’t registered in the tournament, as Matsatsantsa went down 3-2 in the first leg. They will believe that they can overcome the Sudanese side this Sunday in the home leg and advance to the play-off stage because of the two away goals they scored.
Masango will be in action in the Nedbank Cup on Wednesday against Royal Eagles at Harry Gwala Stadium. That match will see SuperSport start their title defence
“The key to doing well in the Nedbank Cup,” Masango, who won this cup with Baxter in 2013 at Chiefs, explained, “you have to give respect to every opponent that you come up against, regardless of their status or where they play. It’s harder to play against teams from the lower leagues because they have nothing to lose and you have everything to lose.”
You can count on one hand the times SuperSport have lost in the domestic league this season. It’s only Cape Town City in the Telkom KO final, Mamelodi Sundowns in the opening round of the MTN8 and Platinum Stars in their first league game, who have defeated the Tshwane side in this campaign.
“Every player hates losing. No one goes to the field with the intention of losing. But you can’t win all the time. It’s great being part of a setup that doesn’t lose. At the moment, our ‘lose’ is a draw. We leave the pitch heartbroken after drawing a game and we are driven to make up for that in the next game.”