In this week's edition of Secret Footballer, we have the curious case of a 'love for sport' turning into 'love instead of sport' as a former Jomo Cosmos star reveals how he used to fake injuries to spend quality time with his girlfriend.
The player in question says no Gauteng-based PSL player enjoys trips to Venda as they have long been regarded as the most dreadful.
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"During our time, there were places like Venda we were reluctant to go to. We would be stressed when we had to go face teams like Black Leopards and Dynamos. I'm sure you know how far those places are," the Secret Footballer chuckles, as he starts off his interview with KickOff.
"We didn't want to go there. So, each time we had an away game there, I would fake an injury.
"That time, you'd find that one of my girlfriends invited me to a party somewhere in Jo'burg on that particular weekend. So, faking an injury would be an answer. It would benefit both me and my girlfriend.
"I'd choose my girlfriend and the party over the Thohoyandou Stadium pitch that was full of thorns. It was difficult to make a tackle on that pitch. In fact, no one slide-tackled on that thorny pitch.
"You'd find that our away game in Venda was on a Sunday, and maybe midweek, we had a home game in Jo'burg. During that midweek match, I would make a small tackle, scream like hell, and ask the medical staff to quickly take me out and pretend as if I was badly injured.
"Who could blame me? Weekend ziyawa [it's going down]! How can you go to a camp in Venda knowing very well your girlfriend would be at a party somewhere with only-God-knows-who?," says the ex-player.
The Secret Footballer says upon the team's return from a Venda trip, on the Monday at training he would start jogging pretending as if he were doing some light training.
"That's how we used to survive.
"Some away games, as players we are not looking forward to, especially in Venda, where the sun is scorching-hot. During half-time, we'd take off our shirts and put them in water, but seconds into the second half, they would be dry again [laughs]."