AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE former Taifa Stars goalkeeper, Ivo Mapunda said vying for playing time against his colleague Juma Kaseja at the national team enabled them to become among the best shot stoppers in the country.
The duo played together at the national team level at one point in their professional careers with both being good at saving penalties a quality which made them popular among sports fans.
But speaking recently in Dar es Salaam, Mapunda admitted that there was big competition for the goalkeeping position at Taifa Stars during Coach Marcio Maximo era between him and Kaseja insisting that the situation made them to work hard.
“It was a healthy competition aimed at getting playing time and nothing else. We used to work hard during training sessions to earn a chance of being featured in the Stars squad which was not easy then.
“I remember the period when we used to camp at Karume hostels that during individual training sessions, we were not doing them together but when it came to group training programs, we did them together,” Mapunda said.
He added that sleeping was hard for them as each was eager to win the playing time over the other, something he said is lacking in today’s players whom he said have relaxed a lot.
“The first priority of a good goalkeeper is not to concede goals and not necessarily to train for the sake of targeting individual strikers from the opposite team not to score.
“You need to respect the whole team of the opponents and not specific players since goalkeepers become happy when they post a clean sheet from a particular game,” Mapunda, who once played for Kenya’s Gor Mahia, said.
He, however disclosed that by the time he joined Simba, some leaders of the club were not happy with the move as they believed that he was a Young Africans fan hence he would be conceding goals easily.
“I remember my first game in Simba gear was a traditional derby against Yanga in ‘Nani Mtani Jembe’ and luck enough, we won that game which slowly began to win confidence from Simba leaders,” said him.
Asked which team he supports between the two giant clubs in the country, Mapunda said he is neutral insisting that he is a fan of Songea’s side Majimaji FC.
He also revealed that his current foundation is not meant to train goalkeepers only but that it accommodates all sorts of players who are ready to learn football skills.
Mapunda is one of the few lucky goalkeepers in the country who managed to cross boarders to pursue their career from outside the country. As he chose to hang his magic gloves, his comrade Kaseja is still active on the battlefield playing for KMC and Taifa Stars.
