Two of Kaizer Chiefs’ most celebrated and successful goalkeepers, William Shongwe and Brian Baloyi, have hailed the Amakhosi’s man of the moment Bruce Bvuma, but also gave him some important old-fashioned advice – “remember you are only as good as your last game”.

Bvuma grabbed the headlines and the plaudits for his sensational man-of-the-match clean sheet performance against Wydad Athletic Club in Casablanca over the weekend.

As Wydad return to Johannesburg for the second leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final on Saturday, ‘Cool Cat’ and ‘Spider Man’ have urged Bvuma to keep calm and forget about his recent exploits.

“Bruce has been with the club for a long time now and the team’s management know the talent he has. But ability sometimes is not enough. You need experience and it’s only playing games that can give you that. Sometimes you need to be thrown into the deep end, to see if you can sink or swim. Bruce has played a few league games and picked up confidence. And now he’s played big games, on the big stage. He’s played a big part in helping Chiefs come this far in the CAF Champions League and shown he’s ready for big-time football,” says Shongwe.

The Swazi keeper incredibly won nine cup trophies with the Amakhosi from 1986 to 1992, not losing a single cup final when in goal for Chiefs, and he played a big part in ensuring Chiefs retain their cup-winning culture.

But for all his success, Shongwe says he had 15 agonising years as a pro, because he was always worrying about and preparing for the next game – a trait that kept him on his toes throughout his career.

Now, he is urging Chiefs to keep going on their African journey and imploring Bvuma and his teammates to stay ‘cool’.

“I thought going to Morocco a 1-1 draw would be a great result. Now, they’ve overachieved and won away! But that can be a problem at times. They might think all is in their favour and go into the home game thinking it is a done deal. Management must ensure the team calms down and stress that there’s a next game, which could be different altogether. They can’t be extravagant, they must stay disciplined and get the job done, and remember that you are only as good as your last game,” says Shongwe.

Baloyi’s sentiments are similar.

“When you have two experienced international goalkeepers ahead of you, you are always thinking ‘I will probably only play when they get injured’. As a young man, you sometimes get to a point where you don’t believe in yourself as much. But the coaches have rewarded Bruce and shown faith in him and he has come through and played a big part in the most important games,” says Baloyi, who was Chiefs’ goalkeeper when they won the 2001 African Cup Winners Cup.

Now, ‘Spider Man’ is calling on Bvuma and his teammates to stay focused and seize their moment.

“It was a brilliant performance in Casablanca from the young man. He just needs to pick up where he left off. His time will come, or his time is now, it’s up to him to solidify his position. Getting the team to the CAF Champions League final will pave his future in a big way. The biggest mistake Bruce and the team can make is to think the job is done. He needs to keep his cool and approach the match as if he’s never played Wydad before and forget about the last game. When you have a good game, you must strive to be even better in the next one,” says Baloyi wisely.

The stage is set, history is there for the making, but it will need to be earned.