!
YOU can tell what kind of a footballer Martin Cohen was when he tells you his favourite player was former Manchester United wizard George Best.
Few South Africans can list playing against the gifted and wayward Best on their CVs, but Cohen got a chance to play in the same team as the Irishman.
Cohen rubbed shoulders with his hero when they both played for the US side Los Angeles Aztecs, now a defunct club that a fading Best joined in 1977.
Playing for Aztecs] also gave me an opportunity to play against two of the greatest soccer players in the world Pele and Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff.”
The Johannesburg-born Cohen, one of the best white footballers South Africa has produced to date, maintains that none of the current generation of players would have made the cut in the teams of his era, including his son, Larry Cohen, who plays for Moroka Swallows as an attacking midfielder.
Never one to mince his words, Cohen believes today s players are restricted.
I find it weird that today’s soccer players lack passion, loyalty and yet they are paid a fortune,” he said.
It was an honour for us to wear the club’s jersey during those days and we were paid a measly R120. Today s game is quicker and more technical.”
Cohen said Orlando Pirates legend Jomo Sono was one of the greatest players South Africa had ever produced.
He was one of the most complete players I have ever seen. With his incredible skills, he could defend, head the ball and score.”
Cohen reckons he remains one of the longest-serving players to play for the now defunct NFL Highlands Park. He played for all the club’s development teams in the early 1960s before graduating into the first team in 1969.
He moved to the US in 1977 and stayed there till 1979. He came back to South Africa in 1979 and rejoined Highlands Park.
But he left the club shortly after Sono bought the side’s status in 1984 and joined Wits University. He played for The Students for two seasons and hung up his boots in 1987.
These days Cohen is the boss of the family business, Jacks Paint, and oversees 100 franchise stores around the country. He has been at the helm since retiring from soccer in 1987.