For Andre Arendse, memories of his famous blunder in the 2002 World Cup against Spain will linger on until he takes his last breath, with the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper having now commented on Veli Mothwa's recent howler on national duty.
During an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Uganda this month , Mothwa had what looked like a routine catch to make in the second half when a long-range shot was sent in his direction from some distance out.
However, the AmaZulu FC star made a complete mess of the situation, and the ball ended up in the back of the net as the visitors took a 2-1 lead.
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Thankfully, Hugo Broos' men rallied back to eventually claim a 2-2 draw via a Thalente Mbatha stunner in the dying minutes.
As a consequence, Mothwa was dropped to the bench for the qualifier that followed, against South Sudan away from home, as Bafana won 3-2 with Sipho Chaine between the sticks.
All of this as uncontested number one Ronwen Williams sat out nursing an injury, from which he has since recovered.
Arendse, currently goalkeeper coach at SuperSport United, has thrown his sympathy behind the former Chippa United net minder, who also had another blooper against Polokwane City in Usuthu's opening match of the Betway Premiership season over a week ago.
"We have to protect him. I know, I have been there before, and you cannot feel any worse than Veli is feeling at the moment and will feel for a long time. It happened to me at the biggest stage of world football," shares Arendse.
After all, he was in goals when Bafana took to the field against Spain in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan, where, just four minutes into the fixture, he made arguably the most embarrassing blunder of his career.
Raul was played in from midfield, and with the ball out of the striker's reach and Cyril Nzama already making a run at right back in anticipation of Arendse having intercepted the overcooked pass, what followed next was sheer madness.
READ | Broos has say on Mothwa performance
Somehow, the ball slipped through the lanky goalkeeper's hands and an alert Raul capitalised, to eventually walk the ball into the net, as the South Africans lost 3-2.
If ever 'valiant' and 'comical' were a group of 11+ men.
"I know what he is going through. We have to help him, we have to protect him, whether to keep him playing or whether that is to rest him and talk to him and rebuild his confidence. One thing about especially goalkeeping, it's a thankless job because there is no margin for errors, and as much as we develop people, we have to give them love and help with their mistakes because it will happen.
"And if we start breaking people down, it's not gonna be a benefit for our football. That doesn't make Veli a bad player overnight," added the 57-year-old.
Usuthu have since signed Richard Ofori, as exclusively revealed by KickOff on Sunday.