Let me tell you guys a little bit about my recent experience when I spent some time away from my comfort zone and was based in Istanbul, Turkey covering the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The average person in Turkey doesn’t speak English, and I mean not at all bafethu.
It’s one thing to not speak English well with a strong accent, that’s normal, but peeps out there don’t speak or understand English at all.
Now imagine spending three and half weeks in a situation like that?
Since they always claim music and sport are universal languages, I decided what the hell, let me test this theory out and see how far I get.
Everywhere I went, I would say, I’m from South Africa and mention Fenerbahce, Shoes Moshoeu and the people would go nuts! For real bra!
Fenerbahce is one of Turkey’s biggest and most popular clubs and Moshoeu played for them, joining them to replace Jay-Jay Okocha.
He was a fan-favourite there and that truly helped me settle in quickly and I could focus on work without ever feeling homesick without my young family around.
So when the opportunity to sit down with Lucas Radebe at Cadbury’s Trophy Experience where you could take a photograph with the Premier League came up, I jumped at it.
I could not wait to tell him about the crazy experience I had in Turkey, and how his ex-Bafana Bafana teammate had a positive influence on it.
See, Lucas himself left a lasting mark in England where he played for Leeds United.
STALWART: Defender Mark Fish. Photo: File image.
The 50-year-old former Bafana captain is a legend at Elland Road, where he not only played, but captained the team during its most successful period of the Premier League era.
The man is not only celebrated on the pitch, but has a bus and beer named in his honour and even influenced popular culture in the area with a popular rock band named Kaiser Chiefs because of him.
There were three other South Africans in Premier League when Radebe was active, namely Quinton Fortune at Manchester United, Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett who were both Charlton Athletic players.
Bartlett would go on to win the Premier League Goal of the Season award in the 2000/01 season for his volley against Leicester City and earned cult hero status for the brace he scored on his home debut against Manchester United in the 3-3 draw.
Fish was very popular in England, he arrived from a star-studded Lazio and became the best-paid player at Bolton before moving to Charlton.
Quinton Fortune, well he played for the Red Devils, tunder the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
Now, the latest Bafana Bafana squad had seven overseas-based players and none from the elite European leagues such as the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A.
Only one player from all 23 that have been selected for next month’s the friendly against Zambia has the prospect of playing Champions League.
EURO PROSPECTS: Percy Tau. Photo: Samuel Shiavmbu/BackpagePix.
That player is none other than Percy Tau. He technically ticks all the boxes mentioned above, because he is actually a Brighton player, but he is currently on loan at Belgian top-flight outfit Club Brugge.
Radebe admits that he has concerns about the state of the national team, but feels that the current group has real potential and is excited about Tau’s chances of making an impact on the European stage.
He told us: “I think right now we’ve got the talent to go far.
“Percy Tau is nearly there, he’s just knocking on the door. It’s really important that we have some of our own players representing South Africa abroad. For the experience and hopefully bring that experience into the national team.”
Rhoo added that he didn’t just want to see SA players overseas competing week in week out, but to be in the spotlight.
He said: “The following of the Premier League in the country is massive. That’s the missing piece of the puzzle, to not have just one but a few guys playing in the Premier League or any of the top leagues for that matter. That inspires our youth.
“Right now, the way we’ve been playing, the boys have been producing the right kind of quality performances that’s needed to improve our position on the Fifa rankings.
"You know the rules, it’s really difficult to move when you are low on the rankings and that makes it a little bit difficult for our talent to go to the Premier League.
“Hopefully we keep on improving and we improve our rankings and have our own, especially this generation."