Orlando Pirates attacker Patrick Maswanganyi, who divides opinion with his affection for the delicate touch on the ball, has responded to criticism meted out by club great Jomo Sono.
Maswanganyi's exploits in the CAF Champions League, wearing jersey number 10, sparked debate after fans suggested the number which was retired in honour of Sono should be brought back at Pirates.
It is only used in CAF tournaments, as the continent's ruling body assigns numbers numerically to squad players.
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The Jomo Cosmos owner, regarded as one of the best players of all-time in South Africa, was asked his opinion on the matter, speaking at a press conference he organized for the announcement of a sponsorship at his club.
He started off by criticizing showboating without going forward and suggested he should not be compared, when asked whether Maswanganyi should be given back the retired number.
'He's ok, but don't compare because you've compared a lot of times. They're all dying after you compare them. You can't compare an elephant to an ant. This guy (me) was an elephant," said Sono, at the time.
'Tito' poured his heart out responding to the comments made by Sono.
"It didn't sit down well with me. Whatever he said, maybe he has not seen what type of a person I am. And me personally, I don't play football to prove or to show people what I'm capable of," Maswanganyi said on Pirates' latest Bucs Camp documentary series.
"As a person you don't look down on anyone, regardless of who you are or what you've done. For the fact that I play for the team you played for and did well, I think a person like that should be supportive so we can believe we can reach his heights.
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"Because we're here to try to do better than players who came before us and many will still come and surpass us. So, if he can't teach us how to treat the next Orlando Pirates player, if there are next Pirates players, that means we'll also be unable to treat them well. We will feel like others before us did not treat us well and we also should not treat the next ones well," he added.
The Tembisa-born star has been tipped to fill the shoes of Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder and homeboy Themba Zwane in the national team.