Former Bafana Bafana and Tottenham Hotspur central defender Bongani Khumalo sat down with Soccer Laduma to speak about how his big move came about, and how he had the pleasure of sitting next to David Beckham once he arrived in north London!
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You were on trial before signing for Spurs. How did that move come to fruition?
You play in the [2010 FIFA] World Cup and score in the World Cup, you feel as if you've had a decent showing. You obviously hope for the move that you've always wanted in terms of moving to Europe. As it were, after the tournament ended, there weren't any sniffs. I sat with my agent, and I was actually quite upset. What I did have, though, was a letter of invitation for a trial at Spurs.
Shortly before my trial, [SuperSport United] coach Gavin Hunt insisted I play in the opening rounds of the CAF Champions League, and I unfortunately suffered a bad ankle injury and I was put on crutches. But the week came of the trial, and we [SuperSport] had a game, and I played in that game heavily strapped up, having taken a few pain meds, and after that game flew to the UK. My agent tried to talk me out of taking the Spurs trial because of my injury, but I insisted if I could walk, I could play.
On the Wednesday, I played a game with the Spurs reserve team and around the 70th minute they pulled me off. Walking to the changing rooms after the game, it was Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand who told me they wanted to meet in their office after I showered. They pulled me into the office and literally as soon as I sat down told me, "Look, we want to sign you. What do we do?'" It was an unreal moment for me. But because of the logistics involved in making the move with a week left in the transfer window, the decision was made to make the move around January [2011]. As it were, I actually arrived in the UK on my birthday, on 6 January, and yeah, it was the beginning of a brand-new life.
How was it entering a dressing room filled with world-class players while being a relatively unknown entity?
You know at the end of the day, you're a professional, and you're there to play football. If you're a new signing, players are aware that there is someone new. So, you'll be welcomed with open arms but from there on in, it's up to you to earn the respect where it matters most and that is on the pitch. But all the guys were fantastic, there were some top guys in that changing room. When I got there, David Beckham happened to be there as well, training, trying to get fit. He literally sat next me and he was a hero of mine growing up, so you can't make stuff like that up.
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The changing room was filled with world-class players. At that time, with Harry Redknapp, the team was challenging strongly for that fourth position and they were in the Champions League as well. We had top players. Gareth Bale was there making a name for himself. That is practically the season when he became what we've known him to become.
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