Before making a move to Israel, former Bafana Bafana left back Tsepo Masilela had a concrete offer from Mamelodi Sundowns, but took a chance with a trial at Maccabi Haifa and went on to have a successful career in Europe.
Soccer Laduma spoke to the former Kaizer Chiefs defender about the years he had spent in Europe, where he played for Haifa in Israel and Getafe in the Spanish La Liga.
The years
I went to Maccabi in 2007 until 2012, but I was on loan to Getafe in Spain in 2011/12. I had a great time at Maccabi. It was actually one of the greatest times in my career. The people were warm to me. I had some good seasons there. We played in the (UEFA) Champions League and we won the league two times, so it was a good time. I was playing regularly and I still get messages from people that side. They love me at Haifa. I won't lie, I had a good time there.
How the move happened
I was at Benoni Premier United. Benoni had one season (in the Premiership) and then the next season they said they are selling the team. The owner told the players, excluding myself and July Mahlangu. At that time, I had negotiations with Sundowns. I went to the All Africa Games with the under-23s in Algeria. It was off season and I did not have a team because the owner of Benoni, the late Dumisani Ndlovu was selling the club to Thanda Royal Zulu but July Mahlangu and I were not part of the sale. As I was in Algeria, I think Dumisani Ndlovu met with Mike Makaab. I don't know where and how. I think Mike told him that there was an opportunity in Israel since I was not part of the package that would see the club going to Durban to be renamed Thanda Royal Zulu. He said I could go try out at Haifa because they were looking for a left winger. So, that's how it happened. It was via Mike Makaab. Mind you, I had a concrete offer from Sundowns and there were other offers as well. I did meet with representatives (at Sundowns), but Ndlovu did not want to sell me to a local team. He wanted to see me overseas. I was not free. I was still under contract, even though he had sold the team. I did not know much about Israel and their league, so I was reluctant. But I got advice and they said I have nothing to lose, so I went there. I was on trial for two weeks. It was the toughest two weeks.
My first day in Israel
I landed at the airport in Tel Aviv at night and they drove me to Haifa, which is like a 45 minutes drive. They dropped me off and picked me up in the morning for training. As we drove to training, I saw guys at the bus stops wearing army uniforms and carrying guns and I started wondering if I was safe there. But I was told that once they are done with school, they have to go serve in the army, so the bus picks them up to go there. What was tough was that I went there and I still had this thing of Sundowns in my mind. It was a bit tough because a part of me was saying 'join Sundowns'. There was that language barrier (in Israel). But I was there for two weeks and they tabled an offer and Ndlovu agreed to sell me. Initially, though, they wanted to sign me and send me out on loan. I was like 'no, it's better you don't sign me because I don't want a loan move'.
My debut
I was not part of the first three games, but then my opportunity came when our left back got injured and the other one had a fallout with the coach. So, I was the only left footed player left in the squad. Mind you, that weekend we were going to play our biggest rivals, Maccabi Tel Aviv. Luckily, the kit manager at the team was helping me to settle in, so he told me that I might play and how important the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv was. He was saying we could lose all the games, but not to Tel Aviv. That rivalry is deep and let me tell you why I say that. Tel Aviv wears red and the other wears yellow. So, midway through the season, I got soccer boots from my sponsor Adidas and they were red. The kit manager came to me and said 'my friend, those boots are the same colour as our rivals. We don't wear their colours'. I was thinking 'now I have to explain to my sponsor why I can't wear those boots'. But going back to the match, I played that first game against Tel Aviv and I never looked back. I played regularly and I became a key player. In Israel, there is no in-between for players. As a foreigner, you need to perform. Because sometimes you'd see a foreigner coming in and then after four months they are gone. If they don't like you, you are going home.
The best player I played with
I played with (Pablo) Sarabia at Getafe. He is at Wolves in England now and at some point he was at PSG and he was a graduate of the Real Madrid academy. You could tell that he was going places. There was another player at Getafe called Abdelaziz Barrada. He was still young and he was a hell of a player. But he disappeared. At Haifa, there was a guy called Lior Refaelov. He moved from Haifa to Clube Brugge in Belgium. He is a good player.
The best player I played against
It's easy to say (Cristiano) Ronaldo, but he played more on the left at Real Madrid. I remember we (Bafana Bafana) played against Chile in Polokwane and Alexis Sanchez killed us on that day. In the Champions League, I played against (Arjen) Robben when we played against Bayern Munich.
Most memorable moment
It's playing in the Champions League. That's a special competition and you cannot take it lightly because not everyone gets that opportunity.
