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Legend, you’ve been around the block, so please share some funny stories with our readers.

Ha, ha, ha, sure, my man. I have a few stories that are mostly about my former coaches at Ajax Cape Town, where I spent most of my professional football career. The first one is about Gordon Igesund when he took over the reins and I was still a young boy trying to get into the first team, at the time. I think it was either the first or second week of pre-season when I arrived a bit late for training at Ikamva. Because I was the only one running late, the coach told the rest of the team to hide somewhere at the club’s base so that I couldn’t find anyone when I finally arrived. I got there and only saw our kit manager (Albert Hendricks) who told me that the team had gone for a run. He gave me my training kit and told me to chase after the guys. “You’re going to get a heavy fine from the coach, so you better dress up quickly and chase after the guys,” is what he told me. I was obviously panicking because I was new in the team and the last thing you want, as a youngster, is to disappoint anyone. So after getting dressed, he gave me the direction the team had allegedly taken, so I got out of Ikamva, turned right and then left at the robots. My man, I ran over the bridge without any of my teammates in sight, ha, ha, ha.

Ha, ha, ha.

JJustt as I was approaching hi ththe traffic t ffi circle, I heard a car hooting behind me. I turned, and guess who was driving behind me? It was coach Gordon and he was laughing at me and told me to hop into his car. He told me I had left the whole team at Ikamva and I just couldn’t believe it, as I was sweating from the run already. We got back at Ikamva and there was everyone looking at me and laughing their hearts out. That was so funny and embarrassing because you always want to impress and the last thing you expect t iis tto bbe made d fun of. To be honest with you, since that day I’ve never been late for training and I guess that’s thanks to coach Gordon, ha, ha, ha.

Ha, ha, ha, good job, coach Gordon!

Another story is about b t MMuhsinhi EErtugral.tl HHa, ha,h ha,h what h t a character! His first stint at Ajax was in 2006 and, in his first six months, we were involved in the Telkom Knockout and reached the final, where we played now defunct Silver Stars. We were 3-0 down at halftime, thanks to a Simba Marumo hat-trick. The coach played me and Brent (Carelse) behind our lone striker and that was the very first time both of us had played in that position, at the same time. So you can imagine the confusion because we were not used to this formation. I can tell you, for the entire first half, we were not sure who the coach was screaming at between us, ha, ha, ha. Coach Muhsin looks a bit weird when he’s angry, ha, ha, ha. We were not sure how to play his system and who he was shouting at when he issued instructions. At halftime, unsurprisingly, he took us both off and that felt so bad.

We can imagine.

After the team left the change room for the start of the second half, Brent and I were still sitting there trying to figure out what had just happened. We were so confused and angry. After a while, we found the whole situation so funny and started laughing about it. Can you imagine how weird it is to be sitting in t the change room and laughing about the game when your team is out there losing?

Ha, ha, ha, unbelievable!

Eish, my man, football will show you things you never knew. There is another funny story from around 2003 and 2004 when Ajax was involved in the CAF Champions League. We went to Ivory Coast and, after the game, some of the guys went out on a naughty spree, ha, ha, ha. The next morning, as we were about to check out, a few of the ladies, who had some transactions with the lads, were standing in the reception area with their bodyguards demanding their payment, ha, ha, ha. What had happened was, the guys gave them R20 notes and claimed that it was an equivalent of 100 US Dollars, ha, ha, ha. Upon verifying the information, the ladies brought their bodyguards to demand the right payment and, at this stage, the entire team was in the bus ready to leave. The ladies kept waving and identifying the guys who owed them and that was so funny. The guys ended up paying and then we left.

Ha, ha, ha, talk about an identity parade. On that note, let’s leave it there for this week, Langer.

Ha, ha, ha, sure, my man.

“I had left the whole team at Ikamva.”

“The ladies brought their bodyguards…”