Why Gerald Modabi left Pirates teammate Gift Leremi at a petrol station

It’s been 14 years since the untimely passing of one of the best talents South Africa has ever seen in football, former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns star Gift ‘Continental’ Leremi.

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But memories of Leremi still live on in the hearts and minds of many football fans.

This is especially true to those who were close to him, like former Pirates teammate Gerald Modabi, another remarkable midfielder during his playing days, a set-piece specialist who could use both feet.

In remembering his late friend, Modabi has many stories to tell, including a shared passion for music, but there is one incident that stands out for him.

“We sang well together, I am not sure if we were good singers or bad singers, but we loved it. We were always in each other’s space even when we were not talking to each other. I remember this day when he broke my car’s clutch and I had to pay R13 000 for it to be fixed. So, because he didn’t want to say sorry, I brought him along to go fix the car – he was still not talking to me and on our way back, we stopped at a filling station. He asked me for R30,00 so that he can buy cigarettes because he was a chain smoker,” Modabi recalls.

“I gave him the R30,00, but he didn’t know that I was buying my revenge with that money. He got into the garage store and I drove away. I left him – and it was in the East Rand! I was scared of him because he liked playing rough and he was physical with people and I didn’t like that, even now I don’t like it. But yeah, I miss the singing. We would have probably been forced to release an album together.”

Knowing how talented Leremi was, Modabi believes hewould have been a top international star and reveals that the player was already in talks with a team in Portugal for a move.

“He would have probably ended up in Europe, maybe in Spain because he loved Spain. I think two weeks prior to his death he was in talks with a team in Portugal, but every time they tried calling him they couldn’t get hold of him. They would end up calling me looking for him,” he adds.

“But, he would have definitely ended up being a big international star like Benni McCarthy.”