By Siyabonga Mahlaba
For a long while, Lefa Tsutsulupa had thoughts of quitting soccer.
After bursting on to the scene aged 19 with Bloemfontein Celtic in 1999, a promising career quickly took a turn for the worse for Tsutsulupa.
Having played 33 games for the Bloemfontein outfit between then and 2000, it seems his problems began when they were relegated to the First Division in the 2001/02 season.
"I really thought I had arrived in soccer after some good appearances for Celtic, but people soon forgot about me after being relegated," Tsutsulupa said.
The Ladybrand-born midfielder then joined Jomo Cosmos, but his time with Ezenkosi was hampered by scarce appearances in the two seasons where he had become a permanent fixture on the substitute's bench.
"I still have no idea why I didn't play at Cosmos after I had performed so well before joining them. I lost confidence and thought of abandoning football seeing that my career was stagnant. After I failed to agree terms to a new contract with Cosmos I left the team."
With the confidence he had in his ability, Tsutsulupa, 26, searched for new employers to revive his career in August 2005.
"I called Gavin (Hunt) to attend trials at Moroka Swallows and after a month I was successful. Though it was a risk signing for Swallows who had a superb midfield combination of Goodman (Mazibuko) and Alfred (Phiri), I was surprised at how quickly I broke into the first team," he said.
Despite his club's inconsistent form in recent times, Tsutsulupa has marshaled the engine room with aplomb alongside Phiri since captain Mazibuko shifted to central defence.
He will be looking for another significant performance when Swallows visit defending league champions Kaizer Chiefs (FNB Stadium, 8pm) on Saturday night and hopefully make up for their 1-2 loss to Sundowns on Wednesday.
"We need to be at our best to overcome the leaders. And it won't only be about Chiefs getting more points to win the title but, we too, must consolidate our log position."
With the Birds clinging on to a mathematical chance of capturing the title, he believes they are still in the hunt.
"Look, we can't give up now, we just need to win all our remaining six games.
"It's sad that we've been hit by injuries to key players all season, but it's just one of those things you can't run away from," he added. The Birds' faithful have got used to Swallows making promises of winning the league, but they usually don't materialise.