Orlando Pirates Sipho Chaine's rise has come as no surprise to the man who played ahead of him when he broke through at Bloemfontein Celtic.
It was in 2016 when Serame Letsoaka promoted Chaine after showing all qualities of being able to play in the professional ranks.
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Arriving in the first team, Patrick Tignyemb had long established himself as the first choice and so it only made sense that the Cameroonian took Chaine under his guidance.
"He (Chaine) came from the development while I was at Celtic, and I took a liking to his confidence, which is why I told him right away that he will reach the top," Tignyemb remembers.
"I knew that he would play for the big clubs and get into the Bafana Bafana squad, just like it is happening now.
"This was never about me because all I did was just tell him to stay honest, humble and respect the game because that way it will reward him, which is now happening at Pirates.
"I take pride in that he has been able to go this far in his career after we worked together.
"On the days when we were not training, I would call him, and we would go together to Siwelele Park to do our extras, and he would never moan regardless of how many times we did it.
"We worked hard on his handling, so much that on some days we went for three hours, and the results now is that he is solid.
"The good thing about Sipho was that he was open to learning and always asking a lot of questions since we spent a lot of time.
"Back then, he was staying with his mother and would come to my place so that we have something to eat and then watch videos together after training.
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"With all those video sessions, he would be asking questions non-stop.
"The hallmarks of a good keeper in the making is one that always asks questions.
"His mentality was designed for football and what I now see in him is someone stronger than I was," says Tignyemb.