At the turn of the new millennium, Abayomi Adebayo had been a teenager coming through the ranks who had spent a year at Polish club Polonia Warszawa.
Poland had not worked out well due to a variety of issues which included remuneration and had a proposal to move to Germany.
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Unfortunately, the move to Germany flopped, and with Clemens Westerhof in charge at Sundowns and still fond of Nigeria, the country that he led to the 1994 World Cup and success at the AFCON of the same year, an invitation landed for Adebayo.
"I was in Poland for one season but then after I was promoted to the senior team because they still wanted to pay me the same amount, so my manager refused," Adebayo tells KickOff.
"I was then meant to have gone to Germany after that but then when I went back to Nigeria the Germans refused to grant me a visa.
"Sundowns then invited me here for trials when Clemens Westerhof was the head coach in the year 2000.
"We were four players from Nigeria at the time and I remember Westerhof asking that we should stay while they sort out the issue of foreign space because at the time only three foreign players could be signed by each club.
"Sundowns kept us at the Holiday Inn in Eastgate for a month but Idah Peterside (who was playing for Tembisa Classic at the time) then suggested that I should come and train with Classic.
"It was then we all went to Classic training who were under Khabo Zondo at the time.
"Luckily, for me Khabo was impressed, and he recommended that I should be signed right away.
"There was no need for me to keep thinking about waiting for Sundowns because after that I went to Nigeria to sort out my work permit and then started immediately.
"While at Classic, I remember scoring against Sundowns so it was sweet for me.
"It felt good for me to score against Sundowns, especially in front of their fans at Loftus," says Adebayo.
After Classic, Adebayo went to City Sharks, Dangerous Darkies, Maritzburg United, City Pillars, Benoni Premier United, Bay United, Winners Park, and Hanover Park as his career fizzled away in 2012.
"At Dangerous Darkies, we were well paid and even had players from Orlando Pirates including Dumisa Ngobe.
"While at City Pillars, we had that strong team which had Teko Modise, Myron Shongwe, and Noah Chivuta which almost got promoted and gave Kaizer Chiefs a tough time in the ABSA Cup at FNB Stadium.
"Benoni then snatched me after that and then moved on to Bay United with whom I won promoted but bad management then led to our relegation.
"Khabo Zondo signed me at Classic yet at Bay United he recommended that I should be released even though I was scoring goals.
"I was already on my way to Black Leopards because they wanted me, but the owner of the club wasn't keen on me leaving.
"From then on, I was used sparingly but still finished amongst the top scorers as the team went down," says Adebayo (41), who still lives in Johannesburg.
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