Pitso hijacked Teko from me – Jomo

Sono says he waited for Modise under a tree in Polokwane but in the end, Modise did not arrive and was later unveiled as a Matsatsantsa player.

“I have known him since he was young. I was the first person who chased Teko, you can ask him he will attest. He had agreed to join Cosmos and I was waiting for him to sign under a tree and Pitso came with a packet of money and he took him away from me,” Sono told Phakaaathi.

“I was sitting under a tree and that tree nearly fell on top of me because I sat there for hours waiting for him. We had agreed everything but Cosmos was smaller than SuperSport and I didn’t stand a chance,” Sono added.

Modise announced his retirement from football last week and played his final game against Black Leopards in Thohoyandou, where he was given a guard of honour.

The midfield maestro’s love affair with football began nearly two decades ago with Ria Stars before he went on to play for City Pillars, SuperSport, Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City.

READ: Retired Teko Modise set for office job at City

It was with Masandawana where he had his most glorious spell as he collected two league gold medals, the Caf Champions League, the Super Cup, the Nedbank Cup and the Telkom Knockout.

“To be honest, he has been a great servant to the game itself. He is a legend and he was a very special footballer. He was some of the players I would pay to sit and watch. There are few who still have to pay me for watching them,” Sono quipped … “but Teko, I would pay to watch him any day,” the “Troublemaker” said.

When the going got tough for Modise in the 2010 Fifa World Cup where “The General” had a mediocre showing for Bafana, Jomo grabbed him by the ear and told him to soldier on.

“I told him that life is not Bafana Bafana. Football life does not end or start with Bafana. It has happened to all of us as players and coaches. We go to Bafana with expectations and it does not work out but we carry on. I told him to go out and prove himself again because life is about startups all the time, just as long as you are still alive, you will start again and again.”

Modise will remain part of the Mother City side post his retirement in a new role to be announced and he will be honored with a testimonial match.

“I think that is the way it should go because if we look at teams overseas, they employ ex-players to be around. They don’t throw their former players in the bin, they make sure they look after them with jobs here and there. Some of the teams here are doing it, look at Kaizer Chiefs, they have Arthur Zwane I development.

“It is the right direction because they need to impart their knowledge in the game but they must be passionate as well. They must not think it is entitlement to them because they played. This is different from passing the ball.

“At the end of the day the curtain has to go and it is you, your soul and your body who knows when the curtain has to go down. I think he must’ve done a lot of soul searching before he made this decision. I love him,” Sono concluded.

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