Bennett Mnguni is best remembered for shutting down Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane in the Uefa Champions League while he was in the colours of Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. He made a big impact while he was Russia and is remembered as one of South Africa's best exports. Soccer Laduma tracked Mnguni to talk about the years he spent in Russia and China.
Clubs played for
I played for Lokomotiv Moscow and then I joined FC Rostov, where I played with Matthew Booth and Gift Kampamba. From there, I moved to China in 2005 and then I came back to play for Mamelodi Sundowns. I went back to China . The last team I played for in China was Okktha United, where I was helping them to form their team and then I came back. It was a new team.
How the deal happened
That deal happened when I was nominated for the best African player of the year with Samuel Kuffor and Samuel Eto'o. We were the three nominees and that's where I started to attract attention from Russia. They started following my games, until we (Sundowns) went to play with Al Ahly in the (2001) Champions League final. After that, I was part of the national team and the Russians came to Phokeng (in North West) as we were preparing for (2002) AFCON. They said they want me to come to Russia and I was not sure about it. I was like 'come on Russia?' Mind you, I knew nothing about Russia and I knew nothing about the football there. My manager also had to Google he football in Russia. Because Jacob Lekgetho was already there, I said the deal can go ahead. I signed my contract in Phokeng, but it first had to be taken to Pretoria so that they can give me papers that were in English. The contract they brought first was in Russian. They write from right to left, not from left to right like us. We had to make a few changes here and there and then I signed. And then after playing AFCON in Ghana, I went straight to Russia. I flew from Ghana, straight to Russia.
The rands and cents
At the time, I did not look at how much they were going to pay me. It was not necessary because I was putting my family and South Africa on the map. It was not for money because it was not even too much better than what I was getting at Sundowns. But if I were to go now, it would be good because they pay them weekly. At that time, we were getting paid monthly. Imagine if I was there now.
My first day in Europe
The funny thing is that I flew from Ghana to Russia. I flew to Frankfurt (Germany) and I was wearing my ZCC cap. Everything was good. People were greeting me and I got everything that I wanted because the flight ticket I had allowed me to have anything I wanted at Duty Free. Everything was already paid for. And then I flew to Russia. I was waiting for them to fetch me. And I wondered if I should write my name on a board, so that they would know it's me. I waited for about three hours at the airport, waiting for someone to pick me up. I stood up and went to the desk at the airport reception, but they did not understand English. I was like 'what kind of country is this that does not speak English?'. I started panicking because I did not have money on me. I thought I should buy a flight ticket back home because I had my credit card with me, but I thought I should just wait. After three hours, I started panicking seriously and then there was a guy who came and said 'you, Manguni?' I was a bit confused, but that 'nguni part sounded familiar. Then I said 'yes'. Then someone who spoke English came over and said 'are you from South Africa? You are Bennett Mnguni from Sundowns?' Then I said 'yes'. I was like like 'how can you make me wait for so long?'. They said the problem was that my ZCC hat made me look like a sheriff. They thought I was a policeman. That was a crazy introduction to Russia, where I waited for three hours at the airport because they thought I was a policeman. It was my first time flying abroad, and alone.
My debut
My debut was against Dynamo Moscow. It was a derby. I came on as a substitute, but the problem is that I was not given the inner soles that warm up the feet. It was so cold. My toes were frozen, but I played so well. It was snowing and the pitch was wet and they had to keep on coming onto the pitch to remove the ice. We won 2-1 and I created the last goal, which was scored by (Vladimir) Maminov. In the first year, we won the league and then the second season we finished second as Dynamo won it. It was the first time Lokomotiv went on to play in the Uefa Champions League. We put them on the map.
Best player I played with
Maminov is one of the best players I played with. We also had a striker who reminded me of 'Mambush' (Daniel Mudau). His name was (Ruslan) Pimenov. He played like 'Mambush'. You could pass him anywhere and he would get there. That boy was clever, exactly like 'Mambush'.
Best player I played against
In the Champions League, it was the Italian guy, (Gennaro) Gattuso. I also played against Rivaldo and Zinedine Zidane. Everybody knows that story where I marked him out of the game. There's quite a lot of players. There was also the original Ronaldo.
Most memorable moment
The special moments were the one where I was playing in the Champions League. That vibe and environment was something amazing. When they start that Champions League song, it's like the national anthem. The atmosphere was amazing and the stadiums were full, whether it was cold or not. It is something I cherish.
Toughest moment
It's when I was in Russia for three months, going to training without those inner soles to make the feet warm. The players knew that I did not have those inner soles, but they were looking at me the whole three months. But I was strong. If I was not strong, I would have come back to South Africa. They were sabotaging me because they did not want me to be free. I played three months with frozen toes. I managed a hard three months, going outside for training with frozen toes.
