Howzit Glen, it's great to have you with us this week on In Touch. We are looking forward to what you have to share with us. Let's not waste any time and get straight into it…
Thanks, my brother. There is a story that I remember so well. I was with Stellenbosch FC last season, and we were playing a match against Golden Arrows in Durban. The day before the game, we went to the beach for a light training session and we were told not to go into the water, because of certain bacteria that were in the water. The water was, right next to where we trained. We respected that, but we were training on the pitch. We were kicking the ball, and the ball accidentally went into the water. Little did we know what it would lead to. Obviously, the bacteria went onto the ball and we got exposed to that without us even knowing. We went back to the hotel, and everything was fine. We had dinner, and then, the following day, we played the match. We got back to the hotel in the evening and all of us started complaining about our stomachs and everything, ha, ha, ha. I told my roommate, Fawaaz (Basadien), that I need to go to the bathroom. I thought I had eaten something bad that day, but we figured that it was not what we ate. It was the food our nutritionist told us not to eat. I went into the toilet, and I was in there for half an hour.
Ha, ha, ha. For that long? It must have been hectic for you. But you were warned, ha, ha, ha.
I felt like I wanted to puke, my man. I think 20 minutes later, Fawaaz started shouting and he said: 'Get done, get done'. My stomach is running. I need to use the toilet'. There was only one toilet in the room, and I said: 'Bru, I can't get up now. It's impossible. My stomach is just going'. I could not get out at the moment when he wanted to get in. That's how bad it was, ha, ha, ha. Eventually I got out of the toilet, and he went in, and he was complaining about the smell, ha, ha, ha. He was like: 'I can't deal with the smell', ha, ha, ha. That was a funny moment.
Ha, ha, ha. Where was the air freshener?
He had something over his nose, and he sprayed to combat the smell in the toilet. But that's not even the funny part.
What could be funnier than that?
On our way back to Cape Town the next day, everyone was complaining about their stomachs at the airport.
All of you were still not feeling well the following day. That water must have really been bad…
Even the coaches were feeling ill, but I think I came off the worst, to be honest. We were sitting at the airport, and everybody was looking at us, wondering what's wrong. Some people wanted to take pictures with the players because they recognised that we play for Stellenbosch FC, but we couldn't because we were so sick. Imagine. I remember our goalkeeper coach, coach P (Pernell McKop), said: 'We need to get back to Cape Town because I need to get to a toilet', ha, ha, ha. That moment was also so funny. We were all feeling sick, and the problem was that we did not know if it was going to come through the mouth or the back end, ha, ha, ha.
That's hilarious. All the players will probably never forget that day because it sounds like you were all going through the most.
I remember most of the players did not even know how to sit in the plane because we were all just feeling sick. It was just funny.
How was that plane ride? Did any of you need the toilet while you were flying back to Cape Town?
Yeah, definitely. I think I got up twice to go to the toilet while I was on the plane. We could not even sit properly. It was unbearable. I had to sit with my head against the seat in front of me because of the stomach cramps and everything. So, you can imagine how uncomfortable that was throughout the flight.
Eish, we can imagine. It was not an easy plane ride for all of you. That's such a crazy story. We certainly enjoyed it, Glen.
I don't think any of us will ever forget that time because we were all so sick, ha, ha, ha.
Now it's a story you can all look back at and laugh about, even though you were in so much pain at the time. Anyway, thank you so much for your time, Glen. It was great having you with us and for you to share hilarious stories. We hope to have you back with us soon sharing more stories.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
It was great.
By Tshepang Mailwane
IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
Nickname: Glenzito
Marital status: Married
Car: Opel Corsa 1.4 Turbo
Boots: Puma Nike mercurial
Favourite teammate: All my teammates
Favourite roommate: Giovanni Philander
Favourite food: Pasta mutton curry
Favourite footballer: Cristiano Ronaldo Kylian Mbappe
Best friend in football: Charlton Basson and Ayrton Griffiths
