Retired baller Thuso Phala got candid about balancing his night life with football and the impact of muthi in local football.
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The story
In a recent interview, former SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana midfielder Thuso Phala spoke about his adventurous and illustrious career.
The midfielder, who concluded his remarkable 15-year career last year, having won four trophies and made 20 appearances for Bafana Bafana, was interviewed by his former Matsatsantsa teammate, Michael Morton.
Phala gave a rundown of his professional football journey that started at Silver Stars, to his underwhelming stints at Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns to being the star at SuperSport United, "Phalaza" had a quite the memorable playing career.
The stocky baller is known for his famous "Thuso Phala Dance" and has a bit of a reputation for enjoying nightlife and some cold ones to make the most of his down time.
During his first stint at Platinum Stars, Phala fondly remembers the going out culture that brought them close together as a squad.
Silver Stars (later renamed to Platinum Stars) was a "streets will never forget" type-of team coached by Owen Da Gama in the 2006/07 season, where they finished second in the league and won the Telkom Knockout.
That squad had a strong bond off the pitch recalls Phala, which played a huge factor in their on-pitch success:
"We challenged for the league, we lost it by a few points. It was a brotherhood, after every game, the whole team will go out to the same place. Whether you drink or not, we were all there. You stay for two or three hours and then go back home, or even stay out later than that. With that team, it showed on the field, it was not about the talent they had, it was about the brotherhood,"Phala told Morton on his podcast.
"Those things are very important and obviously, you know how much I enjoy going out, so it was a good excuse to do that," laughed Phala.
Morton responded to that by revealing to his listeners that Phala isn't the type of player you pick on a Monday and was one of the few players who could get away with going out every week and delivering on the pitch come the weekend.
"I understood my body. I wouldn't even force it, I would even tell you guys that: 'Guys, Monday, don't expect me to run for balls or to be there, no, I'm recovering, I'm still sweating it out.' Tuesday comes, then it's Wednesday, I'll be there and then Thursday I'll be back. l know two days before the game [on Saturday] you'll pick me on a Thursday in your team then you know I'll give you something but don't pick me on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," shared Phala, adding:
"I think it's because I understood my body you know and throughout the years, with the players I played with, you would know, I would tell you that I'm going out. I liked going out. Even if we had a game coming up, I would go out."
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Watch below:
Skip to minute 36 to listen to Phala speak about balancing nightlife with football:
The last club Phala played for in his professional career was Black Leopards, a team he joined in 2019.
The 38-year-old parted ways with the Limpopo outfit after one season and shared an interesting tale about the club's relationship with muthi and how the players were integrated into that culture:
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