In our exciting feature My Welcome to the League Moment, KickOff catches up with Santos FC and Mauritius legend Jean-Marc Ithier.
The former police officer reveals the Premier Soccer League club that gave him a real test in South African football.
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"That would be in my third PSL game," Ithier tells KickOff.
"The first one I played against Ajax Cape Town it was okay, I came on, I scored that one goal, and then the second one we played Orlando Pirates in Joburg and drew 2-2, and three days after that one we played Chiefs.
"I had some tough time in that third game against Chiefs. Three matches in a space of a week.
"We played Ajax on a weekend, midweek it was Pirates and then the next weekend it was Chiefs.
"So, before that, I had never played three games in a week. By the time I got into the Chiefs game, the legs were gone.
"The energy wasn't there, legs were gone, and the performance was just flat.
"So that was the first experience I had in the Premiership in South Africa.
"Cyril Nzama and Fabian McCarthy did a good job on me that day.
"My sharpness wasn't there, and they were like good readers of the game, anticipating all the balls, they were sharp in the tackles, and they were first to most of the balls.
"I didn't stand a chance there. They chose to do the talking on the field by their actions.
"And they didn't know this new guy in the PSL, what made things worse is that I had scored two goals against Pirates, and I guess they were ready for me.
"I played the whole match that day, I can't remember what the score was, but we lost.
"In that game, I learned that the game on this side was sharper, a lot quicker, a lot technically on another level.
"During that time the quality in the league was very good and the national team was very good."
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