Orlando Pirate striker Kermit Erasmus has opened up on his controversial celebration towards the supporters of Mamelodi Sundowns during the two teams' MTN8 clash earlier this season.
After completing a shock deadline day transfer move from Mamelodi Sundowns to the Buccaneers at the start of the season, Erasmus was thrown straight into the deep end, with his first start coming against his former club Sundowns in quarter finals of MTN 8.
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The 32-year-old striker sparked controversy in what's become one of the more memorable images from this season – in which he was seen waving his hands in front of fuming Sundowns supporters after scoring during the tie.
The striker has since cleared the air on the celebration, insisting that it was misunderstood.
"My initial thought was in my celebration was to turn my shirt back to front – to honour my day, being a Pirates fan," Erasmus told PiratesTV.
"I managed to do that and all my teammates had surrounded me, we're celebrating and the supporters are losing their minds. As I walk back to the centre circle, I couldn't reverse my shirt back because it was too tight from the sweat.
"I'm fighting with myself trying to reverse my shirt back, walking to the halfway line and the referee is trying to restart the game. He [the referee] sends me out of the field.
"Obviously, that frustrated me because I thought: 'for what? why am I being sent off?' my initial thought was to play with my shirt like that – back to front until I got the chance to change it back again.
"So, he sends off of the field and I take my shirt off because obviously, I have to put it on the right way. As I looked across the stadium, I almost had a moment of De Ja Vu because it wasn't planned what I did; waving my hands up and down in front of the Sundowns supporters,"
Kermit Erasmus' first goal for Pirates is against Sundowns ??Amabhakaniya have the lead and a vital away goal ??? Stream the #MTN8 live: https://t.co/Tg69y0m5GD pic.twitter.com/YFqunxrwFo
— SuperSport Football ?? (@SSFootball) October 22, 2022
"It was only because I saw Pirates fans still losing their minds around 90% of the stadium. [But] because the only section behind me was where the Sundowns supporters were.
"So me waving my hands was for the Pirates supporters to [continue] making the noise because the majority [of supporters] were us [Pirates].
"So when the noise started rising, our level of intensity rose and then we started playing with more hunger and desire."
The Buccaneers went on to knock Sundowns out of the competition and eventually went all the way to win the coveted trophy with a 1-0 win over AmaZulu in the final.
Erasmus has made 14 appearances for the Buccaneers since his arrival, contribution two goals and four assists.
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