07 May 2002, 10-nation Festival International Espoirs of Toulon. South Africa U23 v Germany U21, Stade des Costieres in Nimes, France. Albert Kometsi & Lesley Manyathela sing the anthem Photo Credit :© Tertius Pickard/Gallo Images
Kometsi played with Orlando Pirates forward Joseph Makhanya and late striker Lesley Manyathela in South Africa’s junior national teams before they broke into first teams in top flight football.
The 37-year-old also share memorable moments from his travels on the African continent with SA’s under-23 squad.
On one of the trips they took to France, Makhanya cried at the airport when his teammates left him behind at the boarding gate.
“We were in France for a junior tournament. Lesley was there, Makhanya, Andile Cele, Tso Vilakazi, Nasief Morris and Domanic Issacs. A lot of players that became stars.
“To get through some gates in the airport before flying back home from France, we needed our boarding passes. So we decided as a team to hide Joseph Makhanya’s boarding pass. He didn’t know that we took it.
“So when we got to the gate they ask for his and he didn’t have it, we all went in and left him there. We kept walking and as we were disappearing in the distance we could see that he was now starting to tear up.
“He thought we were heading for the plane and going home without him, we left him there for a little while and went back to get him. He was still there with the security guard who denied him access.”
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