Phemelo Thobejane hails from South Africa where his love for soccer grew before coming overseas last year to compete in his favorite sport at Allen Community College.
Thobejane is 20 years old and comes from the province of Limpopo Inguinal in South Africa. Being at Allen Community College is a dream come true for Thobejane.
“America has the best college system in the world and that’s where I would like to find myself — competing with the best.”
The center back began playing soccer at age 6. The sport has done much for the young man both on and off the field. The highlight of his playing days so far has been representing his South African province in a Las Vegas tournament for two consecutive years.
The footballer said his goal is to “become a professional soccer player and motivate people.”
Thobejane’s tenure at ACC began with a rough start.
“I got here, played my first three games and then I got injured. I broke my ankle. So, I had to be on crutches for a while to recover.” In December, Thobejane returned to South Africa to have surgery on his ankle.
“I came back this spring and everything is back on track,” said Thobejane.
Thobejane is a center back on defense. He described some of his strengths as leadership, pace, passing, aggressiveness and anticipation. These traits are important for any soccer player but especially defenders.
Thobejane observed the difference between soccer here and in South Africa.
“The players here are athletes and the players back home not so much, they just have talent,” said Thobejane. “Over here the ball moves faster, you have to adapt. I also had to change my style of play a little bit because in South Africa we do lots of long balls and pass it around quickly. Here it’s all about goals, ball possession doesn’t really matter.”
The competition to make the starting team at ACC is tough. There are 110 students at the beginning but only 35 make the first team
Allen has also done a good job of recruiting soccer players from international countries.
The advantage to students is immense.
“You get to learn about others,” he said. “We have a lot of Brazilians, people from Spain, France, and Japan. You get to learn how they are, their cultures, their traditions and you also grow close with them. I’ve also started learning a good amount of Spanish,” said Thobejane.
When asked which professional soccer player he most closely resembles, he said former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.
