Former Bafana Bafana defender Siboniso Gaxa was not in Europe for too long, but the two seasons he spent there changed his life and encouraged him to go to school.
Soccer Laduma got in touch with the former SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs defender to talk about his time with Lierse in Belgium.
Clubs played for
I was at Lierse in Belgium for two years. Being away from home is a huge step. I went there at a late stage in my career. I went there when I was 26 and I wish I had gone there earlier. When you go at that age, you have to fit in from the word go. Some players make it and they enjoy that. I didn't have that and the team was also struggling. We were always fighting relegation. We survived the two years that I was there and there were financial issues. But there is a lot that I learnt there and I cannot get that experience anywhere. I made sure that when I came back home, I adopted certain things. That's why I am who I am today, because of the experience I got there. I told myself that when I got back to South Africa, I would go back to school. I took that decision in 2013. I knew that the first thing I had to do was go back to school and today I am where I am because of those things. In life in general, that period in Belgium played a significant role. I also looked at how they live. Their league is sponsored by Jupiler. When we finished a match, we would have cases of beers in the match. Even after losing a match, we would open the beers and drink. You can have two (drinks). It's their culture. It's normalised. What does that say? It's freedom, it's liberty. They understand that you are a human being you are a footballer. These restrictions we have in South Africa are absurd. Football wise, I wouldn't say I did well, but sometimes life happens like that.
How the move happened
In 2009, I had two offers. I had one offer from Greece and another one in Italy. Not to come to trial, but serious offers. But sometimes South African clubs don't release players. Sundowns knew about the offer, but at the time Patrice (Motsepe) was not keen to release players. He spoke to me and told me that he would like me to play at the (FIFA) World Cup while I was still at Sundowns and then after that we would look at me making a move. After the World Cup, there was not a lot of interest, so I had to settle for Belgium.
My first day in Europe
Initially, when I went to Belgium, I had gone to another team. I think it was Gent. It was more of a trial, but then Lierse found out I was there and they had been looking for a right back and I was there. They made an offer, while Gent had me on trial. Sometimes you don't know with these things, so I decided on Lierse. I was fortunate that I was already in Belgium at the time. Then we had to inform Patrice about these new developments. We went back and forth, but the promise was there from Patrice's side that they would release me (after the World Cup). So, he had to keep his promise.
My debut
After signing, I had to do documentation. I came home and went back (to Belgium). I think I landed on a Wednesday and trained on Thursday and then we had a game (on the weekend). I was on the bench and came on as a substitute. I had not done pre-season with the team, so I was not even match fit. We drew the game and I remember that I came up against a guy who was from Cameroon. He was well established. When I was on the bench, I could see that his movements were proper, but I did well against him when I got on. What I appreciated the most was the fans. They knew I was new and they were shouting my surname when I came on. That gave me extra motivation. I knew I had to do well because it was going to be a long journey.
The rands and cents
There wasn't a significant difference in the money. Sundowns were paying, but for me it was an opportunity and people could not understand. I thrive on opportunities. It's never about money. My belief, and some people may criticise me, is that as long as I am doing my best, money will follow. My thinking was that it was a stepping stone. I was trying to elevate myself to another level, so I did not look at money. The tax (in Belgium) was 50 percent. But at Sundowns, the signing-on-fee was not taxed. You would get it as is. If I negotiated R5, then I would get the R5.
Best player I played with
I was with Daylon Claasen. We were in the same team and he was doing so well. But there were other guys in the team who were also doing well for us and some of them had previously played in England.
Best player I played against
Kevin de Bruyne. I would always come out tops and he would always complain to Anele Ngcongca. When I had to come up against a top player, I would always do my best to come out on tops because I wanted to prove myself. We used to go party together with De Bruyne, because he was teammates with the late Anele Ngcongca. He was young at the time. He was 16 or 17 and he was already player of the season at the time. When we played against Genk, I made sure because anything De Bruyne did turned to gold. So, I was motivated to do well against him.
