TBT: Josta Dladla

The 40-year-old says he was excited and nervous at the same time as he left South Africa as a 19-year-old to join his new team in Denmark where he stayed from 2002 to 2004.

“When I signed for a team in Denmark I left the country and I was small, I was very skinny like (Gift) Links but I was quick and I believed in my craft,” Dladla told Phakaaathi.

Dladla recalls when he saw a newspaper article with a headline that says, ‘How can a skinny boy help a team avoid relegation?’ the day after he arrived in Denmark.

“At the time I had not signed but they asked me to come to Denmark because they were interested in me and I should come to train with them for a week. The team was fighting relegation at the time.

“When I got off the plane journalists were taking pictures and the newspaper the following day carried a story saying ‘How can a skinny boy help a team avoid relegation?’

“I got into my first training session and then I was sent to train with the Under-19 team by the coach so I can adapt, after the first session against these 19-year-olds I thought to myself ‘I am skinny and they don’t take me seriously’, but two days later they said ‘we are signing you’.

“The coach said to me ‘when you first came I wanted you to settle with the Under-19, when I saw you train something said to me let me sign this guy and take a gamble and now this is what we are doing’.

“I scored a goal in my first match and created two chances for my team.”

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