Sipho Chaine: Mbekezeli Mbokazi will be missed for bringing his original self to the Orlando Pirates dressing room

Mbekezeli Mbokazi body frame suggest he hardly has time for jokes.

Mbokazi is known for his robust play, a tough tackling defender who takes no nonsense from attacking players.

His strong body has created an impression of him as a person who has it hard cracking jokes.

The player who just completed his move from Orlando Pirates to MLS side Chicago Fire is far from the above.

After lifting the Carling Cup trophy with Pirates on Saturday as captain, Mbokazi’s team-mate Sipho Chaine spoke of Mbokazi as a soft teddy bear type of a person.

“His presence in the dressing room, how he’s crazy and how he jokes around with everyone,” said Chaine.

“He’s been a really important piece of the parcel in the group. He brought his own Mbekezeli in the group.

“I think the most important thing is that in a team, everyone must bring himself. That’s the most important thing we’ll miss about him.”

Both players are presently in the Bafana Bafana camp as they are part of Hugo Broos' squad to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco starting in two weeks time.