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COSAFA PLAYER PROFILE – MACBETH SIBAYA (SOUTH AFRICA)

The Cosafa Senior Challenge has brought through a number of talented individuals from the region over the years who have gone on to excel in Europe and all around the world.

The likes of Collin Benjamin (Namibia), Delron Buckley (South Africa), Peter Ndlovu (Zimbabwe) and Manucho (Angola) have all enjoyed triumphant periods abroad.

But perhaps the most successful of those has been South Africa’s Macbeth Sibaya, who last year played a starring role as his side Rubin Kazan won their maiden Russian League title in their 50th year.

Sibaya is a much-loved figure in Kazan, an industrial town some 1000 kilometres east of Moscow, and has won 45 international caps for Bafana Bafana to date.

The 31-year-old represented South Africa in the 2002 and 2004 Cosafa tournaments, and says it was those early lessons in international football that have helped him later on in his career.

“The standard is good and the games are always competitive,” he says. “I enjoyed my experience and would encourage young players to take the tournaments seriously and treat them with respect because a few guys have caught the eye and gone on to much bigger things.

“It is these kinds of regional tournaments that often unearth fresh talent. Just look at Teko Modise, he made his Bafana debut in the Cosafa Senior Challenge and look what he has gone on to achieve.”

Sibaya began his career at Jomo Cosmos in South Africa, before a short stint with Rosenborg in Norway following an outstanding 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

He moved to Kazan in February 2003 and has been an automatic selection since, breaking the club record for most appearances last season.

He is also a central figure in the plans of Bafana coach Joel Santana and could well win the defensive midfielder berth at the 2010 World Cup on home soil, which would cap an outstanding career.