Senzo Meyiwa - South Africa's unflinchingly patient leader

goal.com

Goal takes a look at the career of the former Orlando Pirates and South Africa captain, who sadly lost his life on Sunday

The tragic death of South Africa and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa has shocked a nation and left the world of football in grief. Goal takes a look at a player who emerged from under the shadow of Itumeleng Khune to captain his country in a way which left a lasting legacy on Bafana Bafana's modern achievements...
 
Born Senzo Robert Meyiwa in the township of Umlazi, south west of Durban in KwaZulu Natal on September 24 1987, Meyiwa played as a striker initially in his youth for his hometown club London Cosmos. It was only after he switched to goalkeeping that Meyiwa was first identified as a special talent.
 
He was quickly drafted into the KwaZulu-Natal provincial team in 2000, where he played in the Transnet Under-14 and Coca-Cola U-17 Inter-Provincial tournaments as a 13-year old. It was through his participation in these tournaments that he was identified by scouts for Soweto giants Orlando Pirates, who invited him to try out with the Pirates Development Academy.

The young Meyiwa impressed at development level and represented South Africa as a junior, earning call-ups for the U-17, U-20 and U-23 national squads. He was rewarded for his progress with a PSL debut for the senior Orlando Pirates team in a 2-1 victory over Amazulu on November 8 2006. 



The next year saw Meyiwa seem to begin cementing his place as Pirates' first choice goalkeeper after he made a total of 24 league appearances for the club. But, following on from a successful 2007-08 season, Orlando Pirates looked to strengthen their squad and brought in the experienced Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, leaving Meyiwa finding himself as second choice.
 
As a mark of the type of man Meyiwa was, he buckled down in training and waited for his opportunity to present itself. Sure enough, Joseph picked up an injury, allowing Meyiwa to grab his chance and never look back.

He brought himself to the nation's attention in 2013 during Pirates' run to the final of the 2013 African Champions League with a string of outstanding performances, none more so than against TP Mazembe in the Second Round. In that 3-2 aggregate victory, the young keeper saved two penalties and helped his club become the first South African team to make it into the group stages of the competition in seven years.

"Senzo was patient for nine years. He played second fiddle to Josephs, but he never sulked and he was consistent in his mannerism," Pirates chairman Dr Irvin Khoza told Goal.
 
That performance against the Congolese giants contributed to Meyiwa impressing Bafana Bafana's then-coach Gordon Igesund, who handed Meyiwa his senior international debut on June 2 2013 in a 2-0 away victory against Lesotho. The keeper was called up for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but was kept out of the side by South African captain and talismanic Kaiser Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.



"He was extremely excited when I told him he was going to start against Swaziland, and I had to give him his debut because Senzo was pushing and pushing Khune to be the country's No.1, and I had to give him a chance," Igesund recalled to Goal.
 
However, an injury to Khune and the appointment of Shakes Mashaba as Bafana coach saw Meyiwa not only make the No.1 position his, but also captain the national side during this year's 2015 Afcon qualifying campaign. 

At the time of his tragic death, Bafana Bafana are top of the group and on the brink of qualifying from a difficult Group A that includes continental powerhouses Nigeria and a very strong Congo side. The Meyiwa-led South Africa are the only side in the competition that hasn't conceded a goal.
 
Seyiwa's career was tragically cut short just it began to look most likely to blossom, but South Africa will not forget him.