South African football great Jomo Sono has weighed in on the debate around showboating and the continued retiring of Orlando Pirates' jersey number 10, currently being worn by Patrick Maswanganyi on CAF Champions League assignment.
Pirates' decision to hand Maswanganyi the number 10 shirt for their 2024/25 Champions League campaign has received mixed reviews.
After all, the jersey has been worn by a handful of players in an exclusive list that includes Sono, the likes of Percy 'Chippa' Moloi, Jomo Sono, King 'Kaizer Matatazela' Mkhwanazi, Blessing 'Killer' Mgidi and Basil Steenkamp.
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Steve Lekoelea was the last to wear it in a regular season during the 2001/02 season.
The last player to wear the number in the continental tournament was Vincent Pule, who has since joined SuperSport United.
Speaking at the unveiling of Jomo Cosmos' new sponsorship partner Lucas Batteries on Friday, 'Bra J' shared his thoughts on Maswanganyi's readiness for the famous jersey.
"He can have the jersey, it's fine," asserted Sono.
"I saw him [dancing on the ball] and going towards his own goal and I switched to English football. He was going this way, but Pirates were going that way. I don't know... I am not saying it's wrong, but the only time I saw him was when he was doing that."
The Ezenkosi coach-cum-chairman added he performed skills while moving forward to benefit the team.
"I entertained the crowd, but I wasn't going that way when Pirates were going in a different direction. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I'm just saying the only time I've seen him.
"[In that game where I stood on the ball against Kaizer Chiefs], 'Jingles' Pereira was my shadow and followed me all over the field. I dribbled past him, but he went around to hit me and the referee blew the whistle and I stood on the ball.
"That's all I did, I stood on top of the ball after the referee blew the whistle and from there I took the ball and I went on to score.
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"They had already blown the foul against him, that's why I stood on the ball. Otherwise, I'd never stand on the ball. I want to go forward, forward all the time.
"He [Maswanganyi] is ok, but don't compare him with me because you have compared a lot of them [with me] in the past and they 'died'."
"You can't compare an elephant to an ant, this guy [me] was an elephant."