PODCAST | There was a time I thought I might not play again: Pirates’ Lepasa

Orlando Pirates striker Zakhele Lepasa says he reached a point in the past few years where he wondered if he would continue playing football.

Lepasa spent more than a year - 373 days - out injured, including two surgeries and a serious ankle injury.

The SA under-23 international returned in a 2-1 DStv Premiership win against AmaZulu on December 12. His form in 2022-23, including a brace against TS Galaxy this month, has seen Lepasa called up to Hugo Broos’s Bafana Bafana squad for the friendlies against Sierra Leone on Saturday and Botswana on Tuesday next week.

He told Marawa Sports Worldwide (MSW) he at one stage wondered if he would be able to play again.

“I did not want to give up the dream, but there was a time where I started giving in and I thought I might not play again,” Lepasa said.

“When I had the second surgery there were just a lot of doubts about it, if I would be OK or not.

“But over time, seeing the progress I was making and as quick as I started to go, I started believing again, and I’m happy I did because I’m here now.”

Lepasa said he never reached the point of thinking about what he might do if he couldn’t play football.

“The only thing that comes to mind at that time was, ‘What would my life be like without football?’

“Every day I wake in the morning and the only thing I know is go to training, do my recovery, focus on the next match and then training.

“Having a thought of, ‘This might be taken away’, you just don’t think of anything else, and you’re just desperate and you pray about it.

“And that’s all I thought about – I did not have a plan B or anything to fall back on at that time.”

In an interview with two Pirates players, Bucs’ new midfielder Miguel Timm told MSW he is “enjoying every moment so far” at his new club.

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