With Polokwane City flying high in third spot in the Betway Premiership, head coach Phuti Mohafe has credited former Mamelodi Sundowns tactician Manqoba Mngqithi for his rise.
Polokwane City are this season's surprise package going into the second round, as they sit just two points behind second-placed Orlando Pirates on the log, although the latter have games in hand.
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In face, the Limpopo side are the only team to beat Mamelodi Sundowns in the league and have also convincingly got the better of the likes of Kaizer Chiefs.
Mohafe has been hailed for bringing the best out of players such as Oswin Appollis, Thabang Matuludi and Tlou Nkwe, among others, who are in demand following their arrival at the club last season.
The 50-year-old has revealed how an encounter with Mngqithi made him take his career seriously.
"It meant a lot to me (to beat Sundowns). It's a big team, number one. Number two, coach Manqoba is the person who encouraged me to take my coaching seriously. I met coach Manqoba in 2017, we were playing a friendly match at Chloorkop," Mohafe said on Metro FM Sports.
"I was giving instructions and after the match, I wasn't aware that coach Manqoba was noticing everything I was doing and after that friendly match, he came to me and said: 'Look, son, I need you to take the coaching seriously because I can see something in you.
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"If you take it seriously, one day you're going to be the best coach in the country'.
"So, I said to him: 'On your word, from now on I will never undermine myself. So, from then on, that is when everything started to rise up," Mohafe explained.
Rise and Shine will battle it out with Stellenbosch FC away from home in the Nedbank Cup Last 16, having edged The Bees 1-0 on Sunday.