The lanky George Koumantarakis started his football career at AmaZulu in 1992 and went on to play for the Manning Rangers team that won the league title in 1996.
He also enjoyed much success playing for FC Basel in Switzerland and accumulated 13 Bafana Bafana caps. He rates his former teammate Clinton Larsen very highly, "He understood my game. He was a fantastic footballer, he could play, he could dribble, he could shoot... he had everything. He had the right kind of pass, the right kind of service for me."
Big George! Thanks for taking the time to chat. Having played abroad and locally, where did you enjoy your football career the most?
It was at FC Basel (in Switzerland) where we won the league and the cup and then played Champions League. That was the best time for me overseas. Locally, it was obviously the time with Manning Rangers when we won the league. Over the years I shared a room with Gavin Ranford, Bradley Muir and sometimes Clinton Larsen.
What did you guys get up to in camp?
Most of the guys would do their own thing. We didn't really have that much time because in those days we used to travel on the day of the game. We'd just be there for a few hours and you'd just want to relax and do nothing really, and then we'd be on our way. So there wasn't really much to do. But ja, when we were in the hotels overnight, there used to be things set up for us...we'd play some ping-pong or cards.
Which defenders gave you the toughest time?
We all know Linda Buthelezi from those days, hey. He wasn't a defender but a midfielder, but if he had his chance, he would bring you down. He was a tough man. A lot of the guys that were marking me were also quite tall and strong guys. Gavin Lane is one that I can remember and there was also Mark Fish. They were both good in the air. I think every team had very good defenders. You can't really single anyone out. Some of them I had a bit of an easier time with, others I had a harder time with. It also depends which season it was. Some seasons the defender would be easy and then in other games he'd be like almost impossible to get through.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
One of my most embarrassing moments was getting red-carded for losing my temper. But I mean this guy punched me on the face and I retaliated off the ball. There comes a time when it's not soccer you're playing anymore and if you let it go you won't enjoy the game and you'll come off probably injured.
I had to take matters into my hands unfortunately and I got caught. I'm not angry about getting caught because you should ultimately get punished for retaliating, but I had to defend myself.
What was that guy thinking, punching someone as big as you?
Well, he was also a big guy! He punched me and I knocked him out. It was one of those incidents where the guy is also very big, a strong defender, playing overseas. He was told to do a job on me and within 10 minutes he had already tackled me three minutes and punched me twice. At that point I said right, enough's enough. The referee had seen the fouls committed but he never saw the punches. There's only so much you can take and you have to also give back.
What's the funniest thing an opposition player has ever said to you during a game?
I still remember I was playing at Basel near the end of my career and we played against a top team and there was a youngster that was assigned to mark me. It was his debut game. During the game I always spoke to the opposition players, especially if play was stopped because of an injury. So I went up to this youngster and said, "Hi, how's it?" He turned around and said to me, "Hey, you are not actually as big as I thought you were, because I've seen you on TV before!" I thought that was funny because I was never really a giant.
I was very good in the air because I could jump very well and obviously I was quite tall. So he was expecting a huge guy, a massive guy, and obviously when he saw me he realised, "No, he's not that big!" Ha, ha, ha.
Share your experiences with muti...
The one funny incident was when we were playing away against Jomo Cosmos and we were in the tunnel. I'd been scoring lots of goals in the games before and then as I walked through the tunnel the first player that walked past me threw muti on me. Two players further along threw muti on me and, as the third one came past, I said to him, "Throw it on me, because everyone throws muti on me and I thought you were going to be the third one. I'm going to score three goals!" So he threw it one me and he carried on, obviously on the instruction of the muti man.
Funny enough, that day I scored three goals and Gordon Igesund took me off towards the end of the game. When I came off, the one player came up to me and said, "George, you've got the strongest muti. I mean, I can't believe it! We all threw muti on you to try and slow you down but what you said would happen happened." I said to him, "Next time be careful how many guys throw muti on me because if it's more than three, it's going to be more than three goals!" Ha, ha, ha.
Crazy! What about your bad experiences playing away...
(Cuts in) With the national team, we all remember the Congo game where we took revenge on them at Soccer City when Phil Masinga scored that one goal for us to qualify for the 1998 World Cup. But when we went to Congo to play, it was crazy! We were met with machine guns. I mean, can you imagine a national team changing outside the change room? They said the change room was locked, for some reason. It was a crazy game and obviously we got beaten badly there and it wasn't all because of our performance. It was because of the threats and the poor preparations.
Talking of Bafana Bafana, who were the funny guys there?
Back then there were a lot of characters. I think football was made up of huge characters. Doctor Khumalo was an extremely fantastic footballer, but very funny. We had Mark Fish always playing pranks. It was a nice blend. Back in those days the guys weren't...I don't know. The guys are more like machines now, you know.
There's not so much character left. It's just guys that are very bland and boring. That's not to generalise, as I'm sure in modern football there's lots of guys that know how to enjoy themselves and still be serious when the need arises.
Tavern Talk Fun Facts:
Best player I've ever faced: Too many to mention
Best player I've played with: Clinton Larsen
Biggest pay cheque: I don't want to reveal the numbers!
Smallest pay cheque: R500
Former team that used the most muti: AmaZulu
Favourite current player: Siphiwe Tshabalala
Current occupation: Businessman
Former teams: AmaZulu, Manning Rangers, SuperSport United, Luzern, FC Basel (both Switzerland), Preston North End (England), FC Rot-Weib Erfurt, Greuther Furth (both Germany)
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