Former Orlando Pirates midfielder Teboho Moloi is well known for his time spent with the Buccaneers as a player and then as a coach, but his journey as a footballer in Turkey and Colombia is not talked about as much as it should be. Soccer Laduma tracked him down to speak about his journey at Turkish club Gaziantepspor and Once Caldas from Colombia.
Clubs played for
During my time abroad, I played for Gaziantepspor in Turkey. I went there in 1993. I then went to Once Caldas in Colombia.
The rands and cents
The rand was strong at the time. So, I was getting about $8000, which was about R32 000. What made the difference was the signing on fee. It was about $40 000 and then I had to give my agent 10 percent of it. You must understand that at Pirates I was earning about R6000 in 1993. There were players at Pirates who were earning more than me, so I said it's okay for me to go abroad. In Colombia, my salary was not basic. I'd say my lowest was $10 000 and when they paid me well, it was $16 000. It would change now and again. The only difference was that the money in Turkey was not taxed.
My first day in Europe
We were sold lies in Turkey. I was taken first to Turkey and I went to Istanbul. 'Shoes' Moshoeu was taken to Ankara, which is like Pretoria, and I was taken to Istanbul, which is like Johannesburg. Steve Komphela joined me at a later stage. But when I arrived in Istanbul, they told me we were not going to stay there but in a place similar to that. When Steve was eventually in Turkey, we wee taken from Istanbul to Gaziantep, it was like Qwa-Qwa. When we got there, I told Steve that I want to go back home. I will be honest, if it was not for Steve, I would have come back day that day. I will be honest to you, Steve taught me how to be a man and he taught me life. Gaziantep taught me life and built me to be a man. It taught me that there was life outside what I knew in Joburg. It took me out of my comfort and Steve helped me a lot to adapt and persevere.
My debut
I remember that we (Gaziantepspor) won the game 4-0 and Steve Komphela scored the third or four goal with a head from a corner kick. It was a beautiful. It was a clear jump and he got his head on to it. I started that game and, four about eight games, I was a regular in the team. It was beautiful and we won the game 4-0 and, for six games, we were in the top four until management had a disagreement with our coach that brought us to Gaziantepspor. When we got back to Turkey after Bafana Bafana played against Mexico, the coach had left and things changed with the new coach who did not know us. He was a more defensive orientated coach and he wanted things to be done a certain way. It's either you do it that way or you were out of the club.
Best player I played with
In Turkey, Kubilay Toptas one was of the players. He played in Turkey and in Germany as well. When I left Turkey, he left for Germany, but he went back to finish his career in Turkey. In Colombia, there was a player I played with called Roberto Vidales.
Best player I played against
A player who gave me a difficult time played for a team called Cali. His surname was Zapata. Whenever we played against Cali, he was shadow marking me. He would kick me to pieces. He was a robust player and he was a bit thuggish.
Big difference between SA football and abroad
At the time, in South America, was the high intensity of training and the endurance side of it. In South America, you'd have eight versus eight in training, or nine versus nine. There was never 11 versus 11 in training, and we wouldn't play a full field. It was always high intensity training. The difference between South Africa and Turkey at the time was the tactical side. We would do tactical work defensively and tactical work offensively. When you went into the field, it was like you were going into a classroom and there was 100 percent focus. There was hardly any time to joke. I remember there was a time in training and I was dribbling. They almost kicked me to pieces and Steve was warning me that they would injure me. Have you ever been kicked and then you fight with the coach while you are crying? It was hilarious. Steve was laughing and he said 'I told you to stop dribbling because they will kick you'.
Choose one: Play abroad or for one of the big three clubs in South Africa
I'd say going overseas, not for money. It would be to showcase the talent we have in South Africa. We were delayed in showing our talent to the world. I'd want to go overseas, so that we can leave our footprint and identity in Europe. That would be a satisfaction Brazilians have left their footprint in Europe. If I had gone to Europe earlier, I believe I would have left a footprint.
