Mamelodi Sundowns star breaks silence from the shadows: ‘The game that once lit up my soul now feels different, heavier, colder’

Thapelo Maseko took to Instagram on Sunday to open up about a difficult period in his career. The Mamelodi Sundowns youngster, who joined the Brazilians from SuperSport United (now Siwelele FC) in July 2023 with ambitions of elevating his game, has endured limited minutes on the pitch.   

Now, he’s used social media to share his emotional struggles and how his passion for football has begun to fade.

“I don’t even know when it started… but lately it’s like the fire in me is fading… I still train like my life depends on it, still push through every tired muscle, every mental battle but inside it feels empty. The game that once lit up my soul now feels different, heavier, colder,” Maseko shared on his Instagram story. 

“It’s a strange kind of pain, giving everything you have yet feeling unseen. You tell yourself to keep going but each day chips away at you, your confidence starts to crumble, your joy fades and the person you used to be feels like a memory you can’t reach anymore.

“The hunger, the excitement, the love for the grind, they’ve all been slipping away piece by piece. Now hope feels like something far off in the distance and I’m left wondering if I’ll ever get back to that place again.

“This is what it’s like to lose your spark and the hardest part? Still showing up every single day, praying you’ll find it again,” he concluded.

The 21-year-old winger was omitted from Sundowns’ FIFA Club World Cup squad in the USA in June 2025. Around that time, reports linked him with a move away from Chloorkop, with a Cypriot club said to have tabled an offer. 

However, he finds himself at a crossroads in his career with the Brazilians. 

Maseko will be aiming to fight his way back into the matchday squad as Sundowns juggle domestic and continental commitments. 

With the next transfer window still a potential lifeline, the coming weeks could prove decisive, either reigniting his career at Chloorkop or opening the door for a fresh start elsewhere.