Hola Abram, thanks for making time yet again to talk to us. Last week, we stopped while you were sharing the story of the trip you took to Libya, via Turkey, with Marumo Gallants for a CAF Confederation Cup. Let's carry on from where you left off…
Ha, ha, ha. Yes. Remember, because we did not have our tickets to connect for our flight to Benghazi, we were sitting in that uncomfortable section at the airport where it was cold and there were no heaters. We were stuck at the airport in Turkey. It was as if they put on the air conditioners so that we can feel the cold, on purpose. That's how cold it was. We wanted to pass to go to that side where we could buy food and something to drink, but we couldn't. The security guards asked us where our boarding passes were because we had been sitting there for hours. We told them that we were waiting for our tickets because we needed to connect to Benghazi.
Eish, this story sounds hectic. Keep going…
It was tough. I prayed and prayed, but it felt like God was not hearing me. And then late at night, we finally got the tickets and we managed to get through the gates, where we would be able to buy food and drinks. But the problem was that they spelt (Olivier) Toure's name wrong. He is now playing at Stellenbosch FC. So, they spelt his name wrong on the ticket, and that messed up the entire process because that meant he could not go through. We had our tickets, but Toure was like: 'You guys are not going to go through there and leave me here', ha, ha, ha.
Eish, ha, ha, ha. There was no way you were going to leave him there alone after you guys spent so many hours waiting…
You see what I mean? We could not leave him there because we travelled together. We could see the other side where we could get food and drinks, but we could not leave him there. We had to wait for him, ha, ha, ha. It took a while, but they sorted it out, and we were able to go to the other side at the airport. When we went through, I went straight to get water and some food. Eish, my brother, I was eating like a hobo because I had not eaten in so many hours. I had to get my strength back. Finally, they got us a hotel to sleep in because our flight was the following day, but we were three or four in one room.
No way! For real?
Yeah. They had to bring those small beds because we were desperate. What's worse is that our luggage was not with us. I think it was in the lost and found, or with the stolen luggage. I remember Letsie Koapeng went looking for his bag, but when he went there, they locked him up. He could not come back. And then Lucky Mohomi went there, and they locked him up as well. He could not come back. The same thing happened with Skudu (Mahlatse Makudubela). They were trying to get their bags, but they could not come back. They spent another hour that side. They were at the same spot where we had spent 16 hours. They were stuck again. Can you imagine?
They must have been so frustrated at that point…
And remember, we were meant to take a flight to Benghazi in Libya the following day. And what's worse is that our playing kit was also stuck there. Can you imagine? We got our tickets to fly to Libya. The flight from Turkey to Libya is about two hours, so we arrived there on the day of the game. If I remember well, we were 13 players for that game. I was a substitute goalkeeper and an in-field substitute…
Ha, ha, ha. At the same time?
At the same time, my brother. Can you imagine? It was crazy. We were late for the match with 13 players. When we got to the game, we did not warm up. We had to get changed in the bus and we had rolls with butter as our pre-match meal. We were eating and, at the very same time, we were getting kitted for the game. We got onto the field, and we lost 4-1, ha, ha, ha.
There are no surprises there, considering that your journey to Libya was a mess.
I ended up coming on for Washington Arubi. After the game, we went to the hotel, but we did not have flight tickets to go back home and the fee at the hotel was not paid. Mind you, we had a PSL game on the weekend and we had to be back in South Africa. I can't remember who we were going to play against in the PSL and the hotel back in Libya was not paid. A plan was made for us to travel back to South Africa and two members of our team (Media officer Rufus Matsena and physiotherapist Tebogo Dhlomo) had to stay behind while they waited for the people at the hotel to receive their money. It's such a crazy story.
Indeed, it is! Thank you so much for your time. We had a good time during these three weeks with you and we definitely hope you have you back in future to share more memorable stories with the Soccer Laduma readers.
Thank you for the opportunity.
By Tshepang Mailwane
IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
Nickname: Briio
Marital status: Single
Car: Polo Vivo
Boots: Nike mercurial
Favourite teammate: Ranga Chivaviro
Favourite roommate: Lesiba Nku
Favourite food: Pap stew
Favourite footballer: Lucky Mohomi
Best friend in football: Ismail Watenga
