Shopane loving his time with Swallows

Itumeleng Shopane may have had a handful of spells in the GladAfrica Championship but he feels that being with Moroka Swallows is like being at home. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Itumeleng Shopane may have had a handful of spells in the GladAfrica Championship but he feels that being with Moroka Swallows is like being at home. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Published Nov 25, 2019

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Itumeleng Shopane may have had a handful of spells in the GladAfrica Championship but he feels that being with Moroka Swallows is like being at home.

Shopane joined the Dube Birds this season via a season-long loan from Kaizer Chiefs and life in Dobsonville has got off to an impressive start as he has played a huge part in the team’s 12 matches so far.

It’s not the first time that Shopane has been shipped out on loan by Amakhosi, having spent time with Cape Town All Stars during the first half of the 2017/18 season.

The Soweto-born player did, however, rejoin the club at the end of that season, going on to win the MultiChoice Diski Shield Player of the Season after an impressive campaign.

And that is why Shopane is eager to work hard and reclaim his spot at Amakhosi in the next campaign.

“Life at Swallows is off to a good start. But in a way they carry the same objectives as Chiefs. I am really enjoying myself there and that’s why I am looking forward to returning to the team and work,” Shopane said after returning with the South African Under-23 team on Saturday.

At Chiefs, the 22-year-old was playing as a wing-back, but that has changed at Swallows as he’s been playing in his usual No 9 role.

But his absence on Saturday, having been representing the SA U23 team in the CAF eight-nation tournament where they finished third and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games alongside Egypt and Ivory Coast, didn’t matter as Swallows defeated Free State Stars 1-0 thanks to a goal by Lebohang Mokoena.

The Dube Birds are in their first season in the second tier, having had to buy the status of Maccabi FC after they were languishing in the ABC Motsepe League two seasons ago.

That has got off on a mild note as they are in eighth place with 15 points, seven behind pacesetters Uthongathi FC.

Under the leadership of chairman David Mogashoa, though, the team have not been put under pressure, hence they’ll use the ongoing season to regenerate and dig as deep as they can.

There’s new personnel in the coaching department as Brandon Truter took over from Zeca Marques earlier this year, and that’s why Swallows have not just been making up the numbers.

@mihalibaleka 

The Mercury

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