“Yoh mina beng phuza!” Ex-Sundowns defender opens up about alcohol abuse

Former Mamelodi Sundowns Siyabonga Zulu has opened up about his struggles with alcohol and how it derailed his promising soccer career.

Having signed for the Brazilians in 2018, many expected more from the defender, but lack of discipline and alcohol abuse saw his career take a different turn a year later.

Speaking to Andile Ncube on Sports Night Amplified, the 30-year-old revealed that he has been without a club for four years.

Former Sundowns player talks about alcohol abuse

Sundowns fired Zulu after missing his disciplinary hearing and going AWOL back in the 2018/19 season. After that, we joined Cape Town All Stars, but things did not work out, and he found himself without a club.

The ex-Sundowns player said the problems started when he joined the Tshwane Giants.

“During my drinking days, I used to enjoy beer and Hennessy. At that time, we were not just having a drink. We were abusing alcohol. On a normal Saturday, we’ll have six or seven cases of 24(beer) and three boxes of 12 Hennessy,” he told Andile.

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Asked who was paying for everything, Zulu said he was the one who was always opening his wallet. He said as soon as his career took a turn, all his ‘drinking buddies’ disappeared.

The 30-year-old said one main issue that got him axed by Sundowns was his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child.

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“At Sundowns(the reason he went awol), it was about my ex-girlfriend. She was harassing me and would even go as far as getting a place to stay near me.”

“I lost focus as the ex would bring cops to the training grounds(in Chloorkop) demanding ‘papgeld’.”

“That’s why I preferred to stay home, as I was more at peace there. Sometimes, I’ll fake an injury just to avoid going to the gym or training. My focus was not on football anymore,” Zulu said.

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Since leaving Sundowns, Zulu played for only one team but only lasted a few months.

“I last played football back in 2019, and I was 26 years old. I was sitting, training with the guys. I kept reflecting on what went wrong in my career.”

Zulu has revealed that he recently signed for La Masia.

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