Johannesburg — Bruce Bvuma has described his two-year contract extension at Kaizer Chiefs as a continuation “of living my dream”. Such that he’s credited the Almighty God and the hard work that he’s put in after his contract was extended early this week.
Over the years, Chiefs have arguably unearthed the finest goalkeepers than any other club in South African football. As such, Bvuma was expected to quickly follow in those footsteps after he’s promotion to the senior team back in 2017.
But with Itumeleng Khune the team’s undisputed No. 1 then, Bvuma juggled between the senior and youth structures. And in the process, he's only made 28 appearances for Chiefs so far and got a handful of call-ups to the Bafana set-up.
The return of coach Stuart Baxter has seen all the four keepers – Bvuma, Khune, Brandon Peterson and Daniel Akpeyi – get a shot between the sticks this season. But it’s been Akpeyi that has been the preferred No. 1 keeper so far.
However, having Baxter alluded that whichever keeper impresses the most at training will get to play, Bvuma will be eager to see to it that he’s the team’s No. 1. After all, getting his contract extended meant that he’ll get to live his dream.
“To play for Kaizer Chiefs has been a dream. The fact that they trusted me to renew with them means a lot because I will continue living my dream. I feel blessed and I thank the Almighty God for keeping me this long in the team,” he said.
“(What has kept me going) can only be the grace of God because there’s nothing special about me. I just keep on praying and working hard. I always try to stay out of trouble by doing the right things. I also do some extra work at training.”
Bvuma might have made just 28 appearances in the famous black and gold jersey of Chiefs, but he’s impressed at times. Such that he was selected as the third-choice goalkeeper for Bafana during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Bvuma has wormed his way into the supporters’ heart as well, having been voted into the 26-man squad that represented Warriors in the Compact Cup. He didn’t play, though, with Khune, inspiring the side to the title after the two victories.
But the 26-year-old will be eager to take that experience and bring it to Chiefs when they resume the domestic term against TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup last 32 next Saturday at home. Bvuma has some fond memories of playing in the cup.
“This is one of the cups where I managed to get my breakthrough. It was in this cup where I started to play for the senior team. I know how big and important it is. As a team, we are looking forward to playing in the cup,” he said.
“We know TS Galaxy and we know how they play. But I believe that we’ve prepared for them. I know there are a lot of people that get opportunities in this cup, it's not only us at Chiefs, even the small teams in the ABC Motsepe League."
IOL Sport