Talking about looks in last week's edition has reminded us to ask you this question. Who would win a beauty pageant between you and former teammates Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Avril Phali?
You shouldn't have put me in that list. Haai, angekhe (No, never)! Even if you can say I must send you the latest photo (of myself) and you also ask them to send their latest photos, you will see that uyangisukela (you are just being unfair to me). With me, it's just a little bit of colour that disturbs people, otherwise everything is in order.
So you would beat them hands down?
I don't even want to say ngiyabashaya (I beat them), I was not even supposed to be on that list! Even the judge would ask, "Why did you put Sammy on this list?"
Ha, ha, ha, we hear you. Just not sure they would share the same sentiments. Maybe we must open it up to our readers to write in and let us know who they think would walk away with the title. This perception that Ezenkosi were very reliant on muti during your playing days, how true was it?
It's not lies, it's the truth. I refused one day when they said we had to bath using this particular muti because you kept scratching your body at night while you were sleeping. They had to expel me from camp. Don't tell me about isgalagala (muti), I know all about it. It was a daily bread there. Even if he (Jomo Sono) can see it akwate, yiqiniso (and be angry, it's the truth). I remember one time, this one muti man, who was an international, came and killed a chicken. He was highly regarded and he said, "Hey, I see goals!" Well, the only thing he didn't tell us is that the goals were going to go into our net, as that was the game (Kaizer) Chiefs beat us 5-0, ha, ha, ha. The guys made a joke about it the Monday after the match. They fired him and he never came back, ha, ha, ha.
Well, if there's one thing you couldn't blame him for, is seeing an avalanche of goals before they happened. So, is that why you managed to win the following season's Coca Cola Cup, beating Amakhosi 1-0 in the final in what was sweet revenge for you guys?
We didn't use muti for that one. I think it was me and… who else? (Starts thinking) We spoke to Jomo and asked that we pray or consume tea from Z (ZCC) instead of the usual pre-match rituals of the club. I think we bought milk and poured it onto school bottles, and then sprayed it around the field when Chiefs came out for the warm-up because they also had their own things they were using. When they were coming off the pitch from the warm-up, they could see it was white, white, white next to the touchline and tried to avoid stepping on there. But yes, we didn't use muti for the 1-0. I was the happiest man because had we lost, I would have been in trouble as I was the one who went with some other guys to Jomo to ask him not to use muti that day. He agreed, although he said, "Haai, laba ngithi ngiyabasiza, abafuni ukusizeka. Bazothola (No, I thought I was helping these ones and they don't want to be helped. They will get) 10." Only to find that it would work in our advantage.
It is said that even the whiteys in the team, your Hilton Jordaans, could not escape these rituals even if they wanted to.
Sonke (All of us)! All that was left now was for the bus driver to join us, ha, ha, ha.
Hilarious.
I remember this one story now. There was one time we were playing at Olympia Park and this one fan, an old woman, always made sure that I saw her every game. I would go up to her to greet her and she would say to me, "Jersey ya hao ngwana ka (Your jersey, my child)." So, we won that game and then afterwards I went up to the grandstands to give her my jersey. She had been on my case asking for it for about four months. Guess what, when we got back to the change room, Jomo said, "Can I have all the jerseys back? Put them here." Ha, ha, ha. I remember that was a cup game. Goodness me, where was I gonna get the jersey when I had already given it away? To make matters worse, it was only my jersey that wasn't there, and he said, "Go and look for it!" I had to ask the security to go stand at the gate and block the mama who had that jersey from leaving with it. Long story short, I don't think I got the jersey!
Before we let you go, we understand you really rated Gavin Hunt highly as a coach, though you never worked under him as a player.
Look, there's only one coach that I wanted to play under, and that is Gavin. It's unfortunate that when he got to SuperSport (United), I was no longer there. I was dying to one day play under this man because of the way he treated and still treats his players. He's your friend and is able to bring himself to your level and be your agemate. There was a scenario that happened… He was coaching (Moroka) Swallows if I'm not mistaken and I think we as Wits beat them. After the game, he was sitting with his players and they were taking out juices, cooldrinks and beers from the cooler box. These people were sitting in the change room having a laugh, talking about the game, what happened for the second goal, what happened for the third goal. I said, "Ah, this is coaching!" Because now he's not saying, "I'm blaming who, who", no. He's having fun with his players, to say let's fix things today, not tomorrow, not next week. These guys were having fun more than us, as we were just rushing to go to the bus, yet we were the ones who had won. I mean, that guy, every team he coaches, the players are happy. I don't know what happened at Chiefs. I don't know which coach Chiefs want to coach them because then it means even Pep Guardiola wouldn't make it. That guy gives professional treatment to all the players he coaches. I respect that guy. I speak to him on Twitter now and again, but we don't speak much football. I'm telling you, I wish I had played under Gavin, maybe I would still be playing to this day, ha, ha, ha. I think I would have even followed him when he left a club.
Go on.
I'll tell you one thing, what makes a player to excel is a good coach. A friend. If I can tell you about my problems without you asking me, Hunt is that type because I've never heard a single player criticising Hunt. If most PSL coaches were like him, players would be having fun on the pitch. I don't understand because he's a mlungu, he's not a darkie, but when you dribble, you'll see a smile on his face. Maar abo darkie bethu bayakwata (But our black coaches get angry). I could have been a star had I played under that guy. So now, I'm planning ukuthi if I go back to football one day, I'll probably be his understudy, be his assistant or something, just to be next to him and see his style. I think going forward, we are gonna need coaches like this, not these ones who have long faces after training or players are afraid to express themselves to. Football is lose, draw or win – that's it. You can't kill players for losing. Look at SuperSport, we were saying they are dead and now they are awake.
On that note of the dead and the awake, let's pull the curtain on what has been a remarkable eight weeks listening to you narrating your story. That's what Soccer Laduma is about, giving players past and present a platform to tell their stories. Hopefully the current generation learned something from your winding journey, and good to see you are still going strong. Take care, Sammy.
Sibong' iNkosi maan (We thank the Lord). With some things, it's not our own will. Same to you, my brother.
By Lunga Adam
