Former Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Lerato Chabangu tried to commit suicide in the early 2000s, according to Gordon Igesund.
Igesund coached Chabangu at Sundowns, Moroka Swallows and Bafana Bafana. He is often credited with reviving the former midfielder’s career in the early 2010s at Swallows where the club finished up runner-ups in the Betway Premiership.
Igesund revealed that Lerato Chabangu tried to commit suicide after he was sent home by his former coach.
“We are playing away from home, we were travelling to Polokwane I think. We left at 13:00 because the next day we were playing and we were going to travel and Lerato never turned up. So I had the bus there and waited for about 30 minutes and suddenly he came to the bus. Nothing wrong, he wasn’t drunk in any way,” Igesund said on SoccerBeat podcast.
Lerato Chabangu played arguably his best football under Igesund
“I said to him ‘Lerato, we waited half an hour for you, you not gonna come with today, you gonna go home, go sort yourself out and decide from there and I’ll see you on Monday’. We were halfway through the trip and our doctor phoned me and said to me ‘Lerato tried to take his life because he felt he let me down.’ He was genuine about that because I did a lot for him.” he said.
“Fortunately the doctor was there and did what he had to do and so on and so forth, I don’t want to talk too much about it,” Igesund added.
After that incident, the former Orlando Pirates coach realized that Lerato Chabangu relied too much on him, leading him to decide against getting involved with his players outside of football.
Do players have to rely too much on their coaches for guidance?
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