FOOTBALL NEWS - Eighteen-year-old offensive winger Malck Mpunjo of the Plettenberg Bay outfit Oriented Birds Football Club is keeping himself active after his side gained promotion to the Western Cape ABC Motsepe Provincial League for the upcoming 2023/24 season.
The young man from Tanzania has high hopes of flying the Tanzanian flag high on bigger stages in future.
Mpunjo was one of the regular players who played an important role in Oriented Birds' success in the past two seasons, winning major trophies such as the most important two titles in the Safa Western Cape Province, Safa Eden Regional Men's League title and the Western Cape Third Division playoffs title.
He believes that there is no one from his village in Tanzania who plays professional football, but he aims to change that. He is looking forward to being the first player from his area to play in the professional ranks.
Mpunjo said he doesn't have any other option for now and football is everything to him, so he wants to build his name and make his hometown proud.
Mpunjo left his mother, Enna Harris-on, back in Tanzania to seek better opportunities in South Africa. The young, talented winger was raised by a single parent after his father passed away when he was a young boy. When he left Tanzania in 2020 his mother was not convinced at all nor happy with his decision of leaving his country to look for greener pastures in South Africa.
He said that she was very worried about her son as she thought that he won't make it in South Africa, or that he would succumb to a bad lifestyle in SA because of poverty.
Mpunjo is currently working part-time at the tuck shop in Kwanokuthula in Plettenberg Bay.
His biggest dream is to represent his country in the African Cup of Nations and in other prestigious tournaments in the continent. Mpunjo thanks everyone who supports him in his football career in South Africa.
He will never forget the Oriented Birds family for being there for him, and his friend's family (Olivier Fermor's parents) for playing a vital role in shaping his life in Plettenberg Bay.
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