Ex-Sundowns star Pelembe responds to Mozambique coach

Former Mamelodi Sundowns winger Elias Pelembe has reacted to his exclusion from Mozambique’s senior national football team’s final squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Earlier, reports in Mozambique had indicated that the Mambas coach Chiquinho Conde had included Pelembe in the provisional squad for the matches against Uganda and Botswana.

However, Conde told the media last week that he had decided against taking on board the former SuperSport United star because he had not reached out to him to explain his failure to honour national team call-ups.

In a response, Pelembe has issued a statement clarifying the administrative challenges that prevented him from reporting for national team duty in the recent past. He currently plays for União Desportiva de Songo.

“I am writing to you solely to clarify, formally and with documentation, the reasons why I was unable to receive my passport in time to complete bureaucratic tasks related to the preparations for the matches against the Ugandan and Algerian national teams on March 20th and 25th, corresponding to the fifth and sixth rounds of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup,” the letter reads.

Dominguez explained that he learned about his recent-past national call up on March 11 2025 while at his Tete base, but only received his passport three days later due to flight problems.

“While it was not possible to send the passport from Tete to Maputo, Mr. Énio Zaíze, coordinator of the national team, was fully informed of what was happening. Upon receiving information that the document was already in Maputo, Mr. Énio Zaíze replied that it was no longer necessary because the national coach had called up another colleague to take my place,” Pelembe added.

“The reasons why my passport did not arrive on time at the Mozambican Football Federation (FMF) were, in real time, within the control of the national team’s administrative structure and the FMF Board.”

The former Royal AM star stressed that he has always taken pride in representing the Mambas.

“I have represented the national team since 2004 and, over the course of 21 years, and also while also serving as captain, I have been and always seek to be loyal to whoever is acting as national coach, member of the technical team, fellow athletes, the team’s administrative structure…,” he added.

The 41-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down in his professional football career with UD Songo.

⚽ Follow Pan-Africa Football across platforms for real-time news and stories.