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14 January 2020
While many eyes will be on the youngsters competing in the 2020 Nedbank Cup, it will also be a swansong on the national stage for one of the old hands who has served the local game so well. Moses Spandeel, now aged 39, will lead Northern Cape ABC Motsepe League side Hungry Lions in this year’s tournament, having had many, many battles down the years in South Africa’s most prestigious cup competitions.
Lions will travel to GladAfrica Championship side Jomo Cosmos in the first round, a chance to make a name for themselves and put Northern Cape football on the map. Spandeel spent most of his career with Bloemfontein Celtic, but more recently played in the Nedbank Cup with Mthatha Bucks when they qualified for the 2016 edition. He has revealed that these will be his last few months as a professional footballer before he finally hands up his boots, before he opens the next chapter of his career as a coach.
“I have told the guys that this is my last couple of months though, the six months of this season, then I will call it quits. But I will still help the club with coaching,” Spandeel said.
“I wanted to retire two years ago but the owner of the team didn’t want me to go, he said I am still fast and can still play, so here I am. ”Spandeel joined Celtic in 2000 and was part of the side that won promotion back to the Premier League for the 2004/05 season. The team had mixed success in the competition over the next few years, beating Orlando Pirates in 2007, but then a year later he netted twice in a 3-2 first round loss to second-tier Ikapa Sporting, a shock result at the time. He played as they beat Pirates again in 2009, before leaving at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.
“We were a little bit unlucky while I was there [Celtic],” he says. “We didn’t progress enough past the first or second round. But if we [Hungry Lions] can beat Cosmos then maybe we will get Celtic in Bloemfontein in the next round.” Every time a Northern Cape side reaches to the Nedbank Cup Last 32, they are always reminded of the 24-0 hammering that Powerlines FC took from Mamelodi Sundowns in 2012.
Spandeel says there will be nothing of the sort from his side, who are an ambitious, hungry and well-organised squad of players.
“There is a lot of talent in the Northern Cape, a lot of talent. But you know what happens, if there is nobody there [scouts] watching, then the young players lose their passion for the game and give up. “But reaching the Nedbank Cup Last 32 is not for me, it is for the team as a whole. There is not even a first division side in the Northern Cape, so this is a great opportunity for the youngsters to show their talent and get something [a professional contract] out of this. “I like to encourage the youngsters, if I can still play at my age, then the other guys can do it. If you still have the passion for the game, you can keep going.”
Lions are from Postmasburg, some 170-kilometres from Upington, and are coached by Shabba Baise. They beat SAB Regional League side Phokwane Stars to win a place in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 and are making their debut at this stage of the competition.
*The views represented are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of Nedbank.