First, second and now third week! It's clear that you are having fun with us, so why not just continue from where we left off in last week's edition?
So, in 1999, I went to Santos and the late Clive Barker to coach the team came after I arrived. By that time, I used to be a kit manager, a physio… I was doing everything. We used to get those student physios from UCT (University of Cape Town) and they would check on players, but when we were traveling away from home, I used to do that myself. There was no physio or doctor. I would run onto the field with ice and the medical bag. So, one time we were going to travel to Thohoyandou and Clive asked Afzal Khan, the CEO, if we were going to travel with a physio or a doctor. Then Afzal said, "No, why?" Then Afzal went on to say, "We travel with Zola." Clive was like, "Zola? Is he qualified?" Anyways, we went to Venda and there was a clash of heads and our player, John Mbidzo, had his head cut open.
Eina! Hectic!
They had to take him off the pitch with a stretcher and I had to attend to him. I always had my medical gloves on. I opened the medical bag because I had to treat him to stop the blood. I had that big Elastoplast in my bag, but Clive came there. He still had a grudge from what Afzal said. He wanted to really see if I could stitch. He stood over me and said, "Hey, Afzal Khan said you can stitch. Now stitch him." Ha, ha, ha.
Well, they say a stitch in time saves nine – now let's see if you were able to work your magic…
I put Vaseline there and as I was trying to put the Elastoplast, but it was sticking on my gloves. I was sweating because Clive was there, on top of me, watching and shouting, "Stitch him! Stitch him!" I had to finish the job outside of the pitch. Man, I was sweating! I didn't know how to stitch, but I knew how to stop the bleeding. I never stitched him, but you know those days the players would survive. You'd give him tablets and he would go in to play.
Yeah, you're right, players were made of sterner stuff back in those days. Nowadays you clip a guy on the ankle and he spends the next three weeks injured. So, the player you're talking about actually went back to play without being stitched?
Yes, he played! He had that bandage around his head. They were soldiers back then. After the game, we had to take him to get stitched. But I was sweating there. It was tough, but I also enjoyed it.
Ha, ha, ha, incredible. What an experience that must have been for you. That's a story Jethren Barr actually shared with us in his In Touch a few weeks ago, but you definitely tell it better seeing you were the protagonist in it.
It was tough, ha, ha, ha.
Let's keep going, brother...
At Santos, the chairman was Goolam Allie. I think the team was struggling a little bit and he came before one game, which was against African Wanderers. The bonus that time was about R800 per win. So, he said he would increase it by R1500. So, it was R1 500 on top of the R800. The guys obviously calculated, and then they went on to win the game. After that, the bonus went into the players' bank accounts, but it was R850 for each player. There was a committee of about five players, made up of Edries Burton, Jean Marc-Ithier, John Mbidzo and I remember David Notoane was also there. They told Goolam that the guys were complaining and he said he would come to training to sort out the issue. So, he came around and he was like, "I am not a liar! I will never lie!" He came to training and called everyone inside.Then he said, "Guys, I am not a liar. When I speak, I tell you the straight truth. I said to you guys your bonus is R800, but I will give you R1 500 on top of that. But that R1 500 is to share amongst yourselves." Ha, ha, ha!
No ways, Mzolisto. Are you for real!?
Yes, and what were you going to say? You can't even say he is lying, ha, ha, ha. The players were mad, but they fought for the club, winning the league, Bob Save (Super Bowl)
Yes, that was a special generation of players at Santos. But that's a hilarious story! They thought they'd get a nice extra R1 500 each, but little did they know the big boss would dribble them like crazy, ha, ha, ha.
There was a time when I was at Manning Rangers and Steve Komphela was there as the coach, in 2003. I had gone back to Rangers. We had a muti man who was from Free State Stars, I think. They brought him down there. Things were hot. We were traveling with this guy. We went to play in Giyani against Dynamos. So, I was asked to go meet some guys at the reception because they wanted to speak to me about muti. I went there and this guy said, "We are here to give you something." But I was thinking we have our own (muti) guy in the team, so how was I going to do this? But they gave me this thing in a plastic and they said I should take it with me to the pitch. They said I should take grass from the field and put it in my pants, together with the muti they had given me. When I was sitting on the bench, I was sitting at the end. When we were attacking, I would open my legs. And then when we were defending, I would close my legs.
Ha, ha, ha! Those who were next to you on the bench must have thought you were doing all of that due to the stress of the game. If only they knew…
My knees were tired. Those guys scored and then they looked at me like, "What's wrong?' And I was like, "I closed my legs." Ha, ha, ha.
At least you did your part, the keeper should have closed the far post, ha, ha, ha. That sure is one of the craziest stories we've heard. Thanks again for your time this week, Mzolisto. We will never get enough of these stories.
Ha, ha, ha, thank you again for an opportunity this week. I look forward to next week.
