Former AmaZulu forward backed the young striker, who has managed to revive his career in his home country
Zimbabwe international Prince Dube says things did not go according to plan during his time with SuperSport United.
Much was expected from Dube when he joined Matsatsantsa from Zimbabwean giants Highlanders FC as a 20-year-old in July 2017.
The promising striker had impressed while playing for the Warriors in the Cosafa Cup and African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers in the same year.
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However, Dube struggled for game time during his time with the Tshwane giants and he left the club having failed to make a single competitive appearance for the team.
“I didn’t get the chance I thought I deserved at the time. It wasn’t a good spell, things definitely didn’t go according to plan, but I was young, and I took it as a learning experience,” Dube told Far Post.
The talented forward was competing for a place with experienced trio of Jeremy Brockie, Kingston Nkhatha, and Bradley Grobler, who were preferred ahead of him by then-SuperSport coach Eric Tinkler.
Dube was loaned out to Black Leopards, who were campaigning in the National First Division (NFD) at the time, midway through the 2017/18 season.
Upon his return from Leopards, Dube was released by Matsatsantsa and he had an unsuccessful trial stint with Maritzburg United, before rejoining Highlanders in 2019.
The former Zimbabwe under-23 captain hit the ground running at Bosso where he scored 12 goals and was crowned Zimbabwean Soccer Star of the Year second runner-up.
Dube explained that he is inspired by his uncle, Mkhokheli Dube, after the latter played in the PSL for AmaZulu FC during the 2012/13 campaign.
“He’s one person who inspired me a lot. He’s been there from day one,” Prince said about Mkhokheli, who also played in the USA for Michigan Bucks, New England Revolution and Chicago Fire.
Mkhokheli believes Prince’s experience at SuperSport will help him the next time he gets an opportunity to play outside Zimbabwe.
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“He was young, I think that’s what made him come back. He didn’t look at the big picture, but that was a lesson learned and he has moved on,” Mkhokheli told the same publication.
“Being in a foreign land at that age, the cultural shock, being home-sick, and not getting a chance to play probably got to him.”
Prince has been linked with unnamed Chinese clubs in recent months.
