Jethren, great to have you for company for another week. Last week, you shared some unbelievable stories of your time at Bidvest Wits with the goalkeeping crew of Moeneeb Josephs and Denis Onyango. As promised, this week you will be speaking more about your time abroad, having played in Ireland. Talk to us about some of the craziest experiences you've had while there.
When I was playing abroad, I had a crazy moment and it's something we are not used to in South Africa. There was a time when I was playing in Ireland and it was -2 degrees and the pitch was frozen. So, they were trying to make a plan for the game to carry on and they managed to get the pitch playable, except for the two goal areas. I was standing there with the other goalkeeper and we could feel that it was rock-hard. It looked like it was harder than cement and we said we couldn't dive there and that the game should be called off. It was -2 degrees and I was freezing. Then my club said they would make a plan, and I wondered what they were going to do. I am telling you, five minutes later, they came out with a flamethrower. A flamethrower is that thing that shoots out flames. So, they used that to try to get rid of the rock-hard ice on the pitch. I was shocked that they came with a flamethrower to the stadium, just to get rid of the ice, ha, ha, ha.
Wow, sounds crazy. Do they randomly just keep flamethrowers at the stadium?
That's what I was wondering. I was like, "Do they just have one of these at the back or something?" But they said they had to make a few calls for it to be brought to the stadium. But guess what?
We're listening…
That thing was still rock-hard after they used the flamethrower, but we had to go on with the game.
Wait a minute! So, you had to dive on ice?
I had to toughen up, ha, ha. I actually had a good game that day. I made quite a few saves and we ended up winning that game. I got a clean sheet, so it was worth it in the end. But what's crazy is that I got one or two cuts from the ice on the pitch because the ground was hard. Playing in South Africa is easy. You want to play in Ireland? You are going to deal with wind and rain like you've never seen before. It gets so cold. Remember, I was the only one coming from a tropical climate, so all those Irish guys were used to it. At halftime, they would give me a hot water bottle and they would put a blanket over me, trying to warm me up, ha, ha, ha. They would give me that eye, like to say, "Come on!" Or they would say, "Wise up!", which basically means, "Man up!", ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha. So, you were there with a blanket while the coach was having a team talk at half-time…
Imagine, ha, ha, ha. And a hot water bottle.
So, how did you recover after that game? What can I do? I went home and I got a nice hot bath and I remember my mother was there and she also could not believe that the game went on with all that ice. I took a hot bath and put some cream on my cuts. We had to play again three days later.
Well, well, well!
Another thing about being in Ireland is that their accent was strange, especially when you are getting instructions from the coach. You think you heard what he said, but when you do it (what he told you), then the coach would say, "I did not say that at all." It happened to me quite a few times, even with my goalkeeper coaches. I remember there was this one time when my goalkeeper coach said, "A scoop" or something like that. So, a scoop is when you go down as a goalkeeper to collect the ball. So, as I went down on my knees to collect the ball, he sent a volley flying straight at me. It hit me so hard on my head. I was like, "F**k, what was that?" Then he was like, "I said a half-volley", but it sounded like he had said 'scoop'. That happened to me a few times, where there were those kinds of miscommunication because of the accent. They speak English, but the accent makes it hard to hear what they are saying.
It must have been like listening to Sir Alex Ferguson. It's so hard to hear him at times because of the accent...
Yes. It's like a Scottish accent. It's so hard to hear it at times.
Go on.
You know when I was at Maritzburg (United), one funny guy was Zola Luthuli, the kit manager. He used to tell some funny stories. He's been in the game for a long time. So, he was telling a story from many years ago. Back then, they didn't really have physios and all that. You'd have a kit man and he'd do it all, like be a kit man, a doctor and a physio all at once. So, I think it was during his time at Manning Rangers, but I am not too sure who the coach was. Apparently, the coach was doubting him and he was like, "You are just the kit man." Then Zola would say, "No, I am also the physio and I'll be the doctor as well." The coach was not happy with that and during one of the games, there was a player who injured his head in a collision and he started bleeding. Then the coach looked at Zola and said, "Well, Dr., go help stitch his head, let's see", ha, ha, ha.
Hilarious, ha, ha…
Zola said he was just standing there and did not know what to do, ha, ha, ha. The coach was going off at him, ha, ha, ha… but Zola only had his ice pack. The coach got the last laugh, ha, ha, ha.
He who laughs last laughs best, isn't it? Mr Luthuli has indeed come a long way in the Beautiful Game, but what a lovely personality he is. Thank you so much for your time, Jethren.
Thank you.
IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
Nickname: Inkosi Yabelungu
Marital status: Married
Car: Mercedes Benz AMG Renault Kwid
Boots: Nike Vapour
Favourite TV programme: Outer Banks
Favourite food: Jeqe chicken
Facebook or Twitter: Twitter
Siyagobhoza or interviews: Interviews
Favourite footballer: Ederson
Favourite celebrity: Ederson
