Pienaar will never forget Mandela’s words of wisdom

Steven Pienaar plays every game with the words of his hero Nelson Mandela etched on the back of his mind.

The former South Africa captain met the country’s president several times, but it was his first meeting when Pienaar was a 15-year-old schoolboy that sticks out.

“We played a tournament in Italy with the school and we did quite well,” he recalls. “When we got back we were in class and the principal told us we had to go and meet the President.

“When we walked into the room the first thing he said was: ‘Gentlemen, you guys have an opportunity in your hands.’ I’ll never forget that voice.

“He said that sport is the most important thing to put smiles on people’s faces. That we had something special and we had to keep working hard to reach our goal.

“Those words will stick in my head. If it wasn’t for him I don’t think I’d be sitting here today.”

The Everton midfielder would never presume to compare his manager, Roberto Martinez, to the man he calls Madiba, but in terms of sporting philosophy at least, there are similarities.

The Spaniard has also told Pienaar and his team-mates about the need to put smiles on the faces of fans and on their own.

As the Toffees prepare to face Swansea this afternoon very much in the hunt for the Champions League places, Martinez is insisting that they do it the right way.

“After we beat Fulham 4-1 last week he was a bit annoyed, even though he said that it was a great result,” says Pienaar.

“He told us that he could see some of us didn’t enjoy the game and that’s the way he wants us to play.

“He’s a very positive guy. He says that we have to get over our fears and that he wants to see us play with a smile no matter what happens.

“We also have to make sure that everyone who pays money to watch us goes home with a smile on their face.”

Pienaar confesses that the players are trying to dampen some of the high expectations that Everton’s form has generated this season.

“It’s difficult from the players’ point of view to keep it low because the performances in the last few weeks have made everyone talk about us,” he says.

“But we don’t want to get carried away. We just want to keep on winning, play the right way and entertain the supporters.

“Anything is possible. If we have a good run over the Christmas period, the mentality of the players in this squad is to aim high, but we don’t want to put any pressure on ourselves.

“Around about February we might start talking about expectations.”

Pienaar began his second spell at Everton with a loan period before signing permanently.

The club is currently benefitting hugely from the contributions of on-loan trio Romelu Lukaku, Gareth Barry and Gerard Deulofeu and he is hoping that, like him, they’ll stay.

“The guys are working on them!” he says. “But at the end of the day it is the players’ decision if they want to stay or not.

“We are just happy to have them here and they are helping us move in the right direction.”