Doc’s memory bank: We don’t seem to value our own

Trapa surprised me, again, when Bafana Bafana went on the Caribbean tour by selecting me for the team. We were going to play Trinidad and Tobago and then Jamaica. The late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was going to be honoured that side and our games formed part of her being celebrated and she was with us throughout that trip. Trott made me a captain for the game against Tobago and the unfortunate part is that I missed a penalty which was supposed to be our equalising goal. I felt I had let him down because he really believed in me as one of the senior players in the team.

To my surprise, the missed penalty never changed anything and I was in the starting line-up against Jamaica. Honestly, that’s the game that I felt he managed to get the best out of me. The stadium was packed to the rafters by the Jamaicans, but our combinational play was out of this world. It had the Piano & Shoeshine feel in it and everyone really enjoyed watching us play. I played 90 minutes and we drew 2-2, and just thinking about that tour gives me goosebumps. Trott proved exactly what South African coaches are capable of. It is a pity we don’t seem to value our own the way we should.

I have a good friend in Jerome McCarthy and some people might not even know about it, but this is my former teammate and roommate. He was my roommate in the Bafana Bafana Caribbean tour and we used to talk a lot about the game, both at national team and club football level. We advised each other on a lot of things on and off the field. Remember, this is a boy I used to watch and admire playing for Santos in Cape Town. He was a troublesome opponent. He was very quick and, during the tour, I jokingly told him, “You know, I would really like to play alongside you at club level. We both mesmerised the Jamaicans, together with the rest of our teammates. Imagine if we were to do this at club level?” We then just laughed about it. Him and Joel “Fire” Masilela were flying down our wings and causing a lot of havoc. Can you imagine how I felt when I was told that Jerome was joining us at Chiefs? After joining us, he already knew the environment because he was national teammates with a number of Chiefs players. This was obviously a big move and a change of scenery for him. He was staying in the South of Johannesburg, while I was in the North, but that never stopped us from spending time together with the other guys. If we had two sessions a day, since the clubhouse at Naturena is also in the South, we’d go straight to his townhouse to chill and sometimes take a nap until it was time for the second session, instead of going to our different houses. We remain in regular contact and meet up whenever one of us is visiting the other one’s town. What a pacey player, who could score from any angle on the field!