With the PSL one of the leagues that had the most players at the recent Afcon, Polokwane City can be proud of having had at least two representatives in the competition, in Manuel Sapunga for Equatorial Guinea and Bafana Bafana’s Oswin Appollis. Despite having not played as he was an unused substitute in four matches, the former’s presence in camp was as valuable as that of Veli Mothwa for Bafana in providing the much-needed support to those on the field. In one of the major upsets of the competition, the National Thunder defeated Ivory Coast 4-0 in their last group match. In this interview, Sapunga talks to Soccer Laduma’s Masebe Qina about the tournament, motivation of a weird kind from and his impressive first season in Mzansi’s topflight.
Masebe Qina: Fantastic and empathic win by your country Equatorial Guinea against Ivory Coast during the recent Africa Cup of Nations. What did it do to the mood in camp?
Manuel Sapunga: The mood was very good and we were happy with the victory and we enjoyed every moment of it in the dressing room. When we went back to the hotel where we were camping, we continued to enjoy and the celebrations went on until 04h00. You’ve got to know something about us, in the Equatorial Guinea national team we are a family and whenever we are together, we make sure that we enjoy ourselves when we get a chance to do so. That day was a special kind of enjoyment because the celebrations went on until late in the morning, like I say, because we had done a great job. Also, we had a good reason to celebrate because it was not an easy game. Everyone in our country was very proud of us. When we eventually ended the celebrations, it was time to rest and think about the next game.
