UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA’S SAMUEL JULIES

Samuel Julies, you’re the man for agreeing to do this with us this week. Just as well, it has been a while since we last had you on the Soccer Laduma pages. Sure, my brother. I hope you are doing well. Finally, we are doing this thing neh.

Yip, brother! And to borrow from that famous tune by the Black Eyed Peas, “Let’s get it started” There are a lot of funny stories, but some of them I have to try my best to remember because they happened a long time ago.

Geez, we almost forgot that you’ve been in football forever, you are a madala now, ha, ha, ha… and forgetting things comes with the package. Just kidding, go ahead.

One of the funny stories that stand out for me was when I was at Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) under coach Muhsin Ertugral. It was video analysis time. We were sitting in the room and we were analyzing and he was telling us what we should do and where we got it wrong and so on. He was angry that day. He was p**sed…

Knowing Muhsin, that doesn’t sound good, ha, ha, ha.

So, I was sitting next to Gerald Takwara and Jody February. Behind us was (Yan(Tendai) nick) Zakri and Ndoro. He was p**sed with Ndoro the whole time. He was shouting and telling him how he thinks he is a prima donna. So, you know the coach and how his eyes are. He was staring at us in front. Ndoro was sitting behind Jody, but it looked like the coach was looking at Jody. The coach was shouting and shouting and saying all these words, like, “F**k!” So, Jody raised his hand and said, “Coach, what did I do? I did not even play this game.” The coach was like, “Shut up, you. I am talking to that prima donna behind you.” Yho! At that time, it was tense in the room. We could not laugh. As soon as we left the room and went to the grounds, we starting cracking up about the incident. It was funny because we were all shocked, asking ourselves why he was looking at us in front. Well, turns out he was actually looking at Ndoro. We laughed like there was no tomorrow that day.

Ha, ha, ha, you don’t want to cross coach Muhsin. But off the field, he is the calmest you will ever see him, completely different to his touchline persona.

That man did not take nonsense and that’s just how he is. But as a player, you have to understand his character. He is a great coach who is very knowledgeable, and he is also a father-figure.

Talking of Zakri, the Ivorian who was at Mamelodi Sundowns at one stage, what was he like as a teammate?

Zakri was jolly and a funny character. I think he was just too confident because he was always dancing and talking, and he was also clowning around. His English was not so good, so he would mix it with French, as if we would understand him.

Carry on.

You see Brandon Peterson, who is the goalkeeper for (Kaizer) Chiefs? He is a guy who liked pulling some pranks and making jokes. Sometimes if someone had some funny clothes on, then he would grab that person’s T-shirt and someone else’s pants and a hat, ha, ha, ha. Then he would start dancing in the change room. He was quite a funny guy, but he is chilled at the same time. He was always in a jolly mood and he just usually made us laugh. Sometimes he would imitate how other guys jog and just make all of us laugh, ha, ha, ha.

Hang on a second! Let’s get this straight. So, Peterson would take the clothes of his teammates in the dressing room and wear them?

Yes, ha, ha, ha. That’s exactly what he would do. He would do it mostly when there was funny clothing. He was crazy that one. And the funny thing is that everyone would just clap and dance. He would dance and it would almost be like he was modeling for us, ha, ha, ha. He would make us laugh the whole time.

Character indeed. Can you remember anyone’s clothes that Peterson wore and what the reaction was like?

I do remember. The one time he had my jacket on. It was a denim jacket. It’s a brown one. So, he had my jacket on. I think he had Gerald’s shoes the one time. I was laughing a lot. He is just crazy, ha, ha, ha.

Surely his presence was good for the dressing room.

For sure, because he would make jokes about everyone and that used to cheer up the guys. Everyone has their issues, but you know when you get into the dressing room and Biza (Petersen) is there, you know for sure that you will laugh and forget about all your problems and issues.

Well, that’s a good thing. Thank you once again for your time, Sam. Some interesting stories you’ve shared with our readers. By the way, when are you retiring?

Huh?

No, not talking to you, talking to that prima donna behind you! Ha, ha, ha. Thank you for the opportunity.