Katlego Mphela went overseas at a time when social media and the internet were not a big part of society, so few knew of the youngster playing his football in France back in 2004.
Soccer Laduma got in touch with the former Bafana Bafana to talk about his time in France with Strasbourg, which also saw him being loaned out to Reims.
The years
I was there from 2004 until 2006. Back then, compared to now, it's quite different. At the time, social media and technology was not what it is today. When I went overseas, I was home sick. I was young, the weather the terrible. The overall culture, when it comes to food and so on, was different. But as soon as you land there, you understand that people love their football there. It's their culture. It was a different experience from being in South Africa. When I went there, I had not even played at a professional level in South Africa, so it was difficult to adjust in the first six to eight months because of the language, food and weather.
How the move happened
I was playing with the juniors at Jomo Cosmos. Jomo (Sono) would have this thing of playing tournaments outside the country, where he would pick good players from different teams and forms a squad. But we would go there as Jomo Cosmos. It was an opportunity for us to go abroad and maybe get selected. We played a tournament in Norway and I think we finished second. I was scouted there and I was invited for trials, along with Lethola Mofokeng. We were both supposed to sign, but he left. That's how my moved happened.
My first day in France
When I landed at the airport, I noticed it was huge. Fortunately, there was an agent waiting for me. He picked me up from the airport and we went to his house. He took me to KFC because it was the only thing I knew. The following day, he took a train from Paris to Strasbourg. I think it was four to five hours. When I got there, I joined the reserve team and I stayed at the academy. But as time went on, they got me an apartment.
My debut
I was playing for the reserve, but because I was doing well, I was told I was too good to play for the reserve side. I was told to join the first team. This was on a Thursday and then on Saturday I was in the matchday squad against Monaco. I got to play in the last five minutes of the game and from there I stayed with the first team. That Monaco team had players such as Patrice Evra and (Ludovic) Giuly. I was young and fearless and I was enjoying the moment.
The rands and cents
The money was a big change for me. When I there, I don't think the first team guys at Cosmos were earning what I was earning at a junior level in France. It was still an amateur contract and I was not paying for anything because I was staying at the academy and I was driven around. So, it was good money and I could do a lot of things with it whenever I came back home. I built a house for my grandmother and I bought my mother a house. That's the first season I was with the first team. There were incentives too. Everything was transparent that side.
The best player I played with
There was a guy called Mamadou Niang. He went on to play for Olympique Marseille.
The best player I played against
There were a lot. Patrice Evra is one of them. He was up and coming. There was Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa. There was Ronaldinho as well, though I did not physically play against him. I'd see the things that he was doing for PSG that season. I am proud to think that I played against such big names, even though I did not know they would be as big as they went on to be. But overseas you can see when a youngster has a potential to be big. They will hype them and they eventually become stars.
Most memorable moment
It was when we won the cup that side. It's a cup that's like the Nedbank Cup. We were fighting relegation and, with the small squad that we had, it was a big achievement. I didn't participate, but it was special.
