From the tiny village of Masukwane in the North East, Thupa developed a love for the game from a tender age. He started kicking the ball for Botlhale Primary School’s Under-9 team as a Standard Two pupil. Thupa did not play competitive football until he caught the eye of the Premier League side, Extension Gunners.
He attended the team’s trials at BIAC Grounds (now BPSC Stadium) ahead of the 2019-2020 season and went on to enjoy a great debut campaign in the top flight. It looked like an infant football career heading in the right direction as after just half a season with Gunners, former national team coach, Adel Amrouche, handed him his first Zebras’ call up.
He was named in the Zebras’ squad to face Zimbabwe and Algeria in November 2019 in the AFCON 2021 qualifiers. He described the call-up as a surreal moment. “It was my debut season; I had played only five games professionally and there were a lot of good strikers at that time. To be called up was an amazing moment.
It showed that the country recognised my talent and it really helped with my confidence,” said the 27-year-old. The Zebras call-up looked to have drawn attention to the country’s most exciting striking prospect at the time and in came the big clubs.
Gaborone United (GU) managed to snatch the striker’s signature ahead of a host of league rivals. Thupa said the move was instigated by local football icon, Dirang Moloi who had put in a ‘good word’ for him at GU. At the time, Thupa was looking for a team that would be a step up from Gunners. At the time, Gunners were having monetary issues and failed to cover players’ salaries and Thupa was amongst the cohort that left the ship. But he found competition for a starting place intense at GU.
He had to compete for a starting spot with a host of legendary strikers including Joel Mogorosi and Kekaetswe ‘Mara’ Moloi, alongside Thatayaone Kgamanyane and Obonwe Maome. He said he did not see it as competition, as he viewed GU as a platform for growth.
“(They were) great strikers and legends. I was there to observe and work from there. It was not difficult to break into the first team, as I already had the momentum going. Those guys (Moloi and Mogorosi), alongside 2 Pula (Maome) and Messi (Kgamanyane), I was very happy and that competition made me want to develop more, to work harder and be better,” he said.
Thupa said the money did not motivate the GU move, as he wanted to play football at the highest possible level but he struggled to get playing minutes as time went by. He joined GU in February 2020 and his goal-scoring momentum was affected by the stoppage of sporting activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thupa made 16 appearances and scored just three goals over his two-year stay at GU.
He made two starts in the league and a further 12 appearances from the bench. The forward also made two substitute appearances in GU’s 2022 Orange FA Cup triumph until the Reds opted against renewing his contract in June 2022. “Not playing regularly wasn’t real a problem; there were big names that deserved to play. Some were old and I thought I’d be patient enough to wait for my time just like I waited at Gunners,” he noted.
Thupa’s career then took a nosedive as he relied on alcohol to deal with his stagnating football career. He revealed that although he tried to exercise some patience, he had in him that he had to be a key starter in the GU setup.
“There were a lot of factors, voices whispering that I deserve to play; that I am better than some other players, personal issues at home also, and other things.
Basically, I got distracted with the plan that was put in place and I lost trust in the coach that gave me the platform to play the game in the first place. I (then) grew impatient with the plan, maybe I was jealous that other strikers were brought in and went straight into the first team. With everything happening so quickly I guess that is how it happened before we could work on it,” he said.
As he left GU in mid-2022, Thupa joined Security Systems where he lasted for only six months. He said at Systems he yearned for game time whilst the club could not afford to pay a lot for a player with limited game time. He added that a number of agreements between the two parties were unfulfilled and this led to him leaving Systems. He also had another challenge with an unnamed club.
“(There is) another team that did not go through with their promises; salary payments, general well-being. I was struggling to keep fit, my body was falling apart because of the poor welfare and now I am working on regaining my fitness. I train alone at home most of the time. I tried to talk to teams but I guess they chose to go with other players.”
Then came along Holy Ghost in January 2023 where the striker remained for six months and left the club, and the team is the last club he ever played for. From being on the sidelines for almost two years, Thupa is looking to get back to the playing field.
“I am willing to play for any club at the end of the day. What I love doing is playing at the highest level. If any team needs a striker, we can work something out, I am sure. Well, I have seen and felt the pain of not playing, the impact of the alcohol, and everything.
All that has changed. I used to want to leave football once, whilst at Holy Ghost, but towards the end, the game against Police XI, I had found that spark, that hunger, and since then I have changed. I wish to play again and I’ll do anything to play,” said Thupa.
