Howzit, Ricardo? Thanks for making time to have a bit of a laugh with us this week.
Thanks for having me, my brother. There are a few stories I can think of.
Okay, good to hear that. Just as well, we haven't heard from you in a while, and we certainly hope you have some stories to keep the Soccer Laduma readers 'warm' and laughing for days on end with winter upon us.
So, when I played in the National First Division (now officially known as Motsepe Foundation Championship), we had a muti man who came into the team. He came around and he was busy touching the legs of the players with a feather. Our goalkeeper at the time had a bone in his gloves, ha, ha, ha. After doing all that, I remember the muti man saying that we were going to win.
Hmmm, doesn't seem like this story had a happy ending…
Ha, ha, ha, we didn't win that game, my brother.
Told you!
We ended up losing that game we played. I think we lost 4-0 or 5-0, ha, ha, ha. I can't remember who we were playing against.
Geez, he must have been relegation material of a muti man. If ever there was a log table of all the muti men, he would have been right there at the bottom.
Ha, ha, ha, we were so confused because obviously we were not into this whole muti thing. But it never happened again.
It only makes sense that it never happened again because it clearly did not work. But was the feather not tickling the players?
Ha, ha, ha. They used the feather on our knees, and it was only, like, one touch, so it wasn't bad and I wouldn't say it tickled us. It was something we were definitely not familiar with.
It must have been one crazy experience, especially because it ended up with the team getting a heavy defeat. But let's move on…
Another funny story I can think of was when I was with Avendale Athletico. It was during my first year at the club and we had guys like Jason Jacobs, Aldrid Miller, Peter Philander, Garry Jazzman, Keenan Lesch and Jonathan Armogam. Those guys were the pranksters in the team, so you had to be careful, ha, ha, ha. I remember they once got our reserve goalkeeper. So, we were on the plane and then they told him that his mother was on the phone. Bear in mind that we were on a plane, so there was no way you could use a phone. So, they told him that his mother had called on that phone thing that the air hostesses usually use when they make announcements. He then went there, took the phone and he was like, "Hello mom." We all just burst out laughing, ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha, that's a brilliant story. Shame man, mommy's boy. Imagine how he must have felt when he realised that it was not a real phone.
Ha, ha, ha. I was in stitches, my brother. That could have been me, but fortunately for me, I started flying on planes from a young age. For him, it was his first flight, so he didn't know.
Eish, poor guy. But was he not angry with you guys?
No, not at all. He actually took it well. That's really one of the pranks that have stood out for me in my football career.
Go on and share some stories from your time at Santos.
One of the funny things about being at Santos is that you could never leave your juice unattended. If you were eating and you ended up standing up to leave for whatever reason, I can almost guarantee you that there would be salt in your juice, ha, ha, ha.
So, that means you either had to walk around with your juice or simply not leave the table until you had gulped it all.
That's right. It was best that you took it with or finished it, ha, ha, ha. I remember Wayne Roberts once got me and he put salt in my juice. It was not nice at all. I think that was the only time I got pranked. We had some funny guys in the team at Santos. Craig Bianchi had some funny jokes, but he hits you with higher grade things, so you would have to be sharp. Then there was (Mogogi) "Gino" Gabonamong. He had dry humour. Gregory Roelf was the guy who would always tell stories in the team. He just had this way of telling stories. Sometimes it wouldn't be funny, but it was just how he said it that made it funny, ha, ha, ha.
Before we let you go, who is the funniest coach you've worked under?
Definitely Boebie Solomons, but he was also scary. They would take our phones away and no one would dare be late for training or meetings. The night before matchday, he would take our phones away and he would say, "Imagine if you got a message saying your wife or girlfriend is walking with another man in the mall, then that means you won't be able to focus on the game." Ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha, true, isn't it? After all, he was a player himself at one stage, but fortunately there were no mobile phones in those days, so we can't say he was talking from experience.
It's crazy, my friend, ha, ha.
You've had some crazy times in football with some interesting characters. Thanks again for your time, Ricardo.
Thank you so much.
IN TOUCH FUN FACTS
Nickname: Skippy/Cardo
Marital status: Married
Car: VW Polo
Boots: Adidas
Favourite TV programme: I don't have any
Favourite food: Butter chicken with a roti
Facebook or Twitter: Facebook
Siyagobhoza or interviews: Interviews
