“I just chatted with Bernard Parker,” enthuses 18-year-old Vusi Ngwenya, who visited the Chiefs Village to fulfil his dream. The Reach for a Dream Foundation organised the meeting. Meanwhile, the six-year-old Simphiwe Mthembu met his hero Siphiwe Tshabalala. “Wow!”, he reacted excited upon seeing his hero face-to-face.

Reach for a Dream fulfils the dream of children between the age of three and 18, who have been diagnosed as having a life-threatening illness by a medical practitioner.

“We help more than 2.000 kids per year to help them fulfil their dream,” says Puseletso Mothiba, who works as a volunteer for Reach for a Dream.

Ngwenya’s favourite Amakhosi player is Itumeleng Khune, despite otherwise not being particularly a fan of goalkeepers. “But Khune is something special,” he explains. “He’s such a fantastic goalkeeper.”

Parker is another big favourite of Ngwenya: “Besides being a class striker, I realised today what a nice and a friendly person he is. To be honest, all the players were very kind to us.”

Mthembu just looked around, smiling from ear to ear and proudly wearing his Kaizer Chiefs jersey with the name ‘Simphiwe’ written at the back with number 14, naturally.