Does the name Eyong Enoh come up when you think about the best foreign players to grace the PSL?
It should, the man made a massive impact at Ajax Cape Town between 2006 and 2008, before moving to Europe.
As big as he is, though, that's how humble the midfielder is too.
In a recent catch-up with the Cameroonian, I suggested that he might have been the greatest player from his country to ever play in the PSL.
He hit back: “No ways bro, there was a guy from Cameroon at Mamelodi Sundowns, Roger Feutmba.”
He could only laugh when I told him that Feutmba doesn’t count because he played like a South African.
Nonetheless Eyong’s path to Cape Town was an interesting one.
CLASS TOUCH: Roger Feutmba
It all started in Cameroon, after his peers, who called him Veron after the former Argentina and Manchester United midfielder, put his name forward as the best player in his hood.
He then went to Cyprus where a Turkish businessman known only as Mario was told about this amazing young African footballer in Megusa.
Without watching him play, Mario called up his compatriot Muhsin Ertugral at Ajax Cape Town and said he wants to send him a player to have a look at.
Ertugral recalls: “[Then-Ajax boss] John [Comitis] didn’t want to spend, but I knew I wanted a midfielder.
“It took two weeks of phone calls for Mario to convince me that there was a good player in Cyprus.
“Here I am stressing about where to get a midfielder and he’s telling me about a player in Cyprus.
“So I finally I said whatever, bring him.”
The now-34-year-old Enoh left the tiny Mediterranean island and never looked back.
He tells the Daily Voice: “We had won the league after a long time in Cyprus and I was the top player there so everyone was talking about me there.
“We played the same way every match and we did the same things in practice. It was repetition that’s how we played all our games. It all became autonomic after a while.”
At Ajax, it was a different story.
He remembers: “Most of the time we would have so much fun on the pitch.
“We had a fantastic team, a really good young team of really good players bro. We lost the league by something like one or two points.”
It was by two points to SuperSport United on the last day of the 2007/08 season.
The Urban Warriors had to beat Golden Arrows but could only manage a 2-2 draw, missing theire chance at glory as SuperSport lost but still did enough for them to clinch the league title.
Enoh adds: “We had some really good players in our team, we had Bryce [Moon] and Nazier [Allie] on the right.
“Franklyn [Cale] was at his peak on the left, together with Brett [Evans].
“Clifford [Ngobeni] was my partner in crime in the middle.
“Our defense was solid and we had Hans Vonk in goal. Our strikers were [Thembinkosi] Fanteni, we also got Russell [Mwafulirwa] and later Nathan Paulse. Amazing team.”
They reached the final of the MTN8 the following season, but were forced to let Ertugral go because he had a huge offer from one of Turkey’s ambitious clubs.
Ertugral remembers: “The president of the club personally flew down to Cape Town and stayed for 10 days and said he wasn’t leaving without my contract signed.
“It was bad timing and it was a big offer that even the chairman John [Comitis] understood. I left the team with a clear instruction how to play that game, but they did something else instead and it was a disaster.”
PRESENCE: Muhsin Ertugral
Enoh is proud of how the team bounced back after what was supposed to be a demoralising result. Their 6-0 defeat to Golden Arrows remains the record for the biggest defeat in a Mzansi final.
It would also be his last season in South Africa as he had to pack his bags for the massive move to Ajax Amsterdam.
He would become the fourth successful talent switch of the partnership.
Enoh adds: “I’ve noticed that there’s a special link between Africa and Europe. I experienced it myself so I know a lot about it from my own experience. There’s so much that the world doesn’t know about African football.
“I would like to contribute and improve the standard of our game and help players back home and in the rest of the continent.”
For now, though, he says: “We’re settled here in Amsterdam, my wife and my five boys.
“My first son was born in Cape Town, so we’ll always have a
special bond to the city.
“His name is Bashan and plays in the Ajax youth team.
“I’m using this time of the lockdown to study Sports Management because I’m interested in player management, not so much coaching although I know I will probably do that anyway.
“But I would also consider working for a club as well.”