In this edition of My Muti Story, ex-Orlando Pirates attacker Tyren Arendse reveals why he was against the Soweto giants' muti ritual.
Most South African clubs have been known for their unique pre-match rituals, which is often an eye-opening and even overwhelming experience for a new player joining the team.
"At Pirates, they always had a guy that was around to make sure that everybody got into the bath, which had a special mixture in it," Arendse says, opening up to KickOff.
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"But when I got there, I didn't understand these things. All I knew was that football was played on the field, and, because of my belief - I'm a Christian - in the beginning, it was really difficult.
"I remember my first game against Manning Rangers. We played away in Durban, and I was sharing a room with Jimmy Tau, and just before we went to the bus, Jimmy was saying: 'Don't forget, you must go take a bath there in...' I forget the room number.
"Then I said to him: No, man, I will shower there by our room, then I will go'.
"Jimmy left, and then I showered in our room. When I got into the bus ... I remember the late Phil Setshedi was the manager ...He stopped me, saying: 'no, let's go to that room quickly'.
"I then said, 'No, why must I go there? I have already bathed'," shares the former winger-cum-striker.
Arendse, who also turned out for Mamelodi Sundowns and Santos during his PSL career, says as he went into the room, he found a muti man waiting for him.
"And now I look at the bed, and my kit is the only one that's left on the bed.
"Now I'm a little bit confused. Why is my kit the only one? Then Phil said: 'No, you must go in the bath first, and we will give you your kit.
"Hey, it was a big argument between the two of us! I didn't understand what this was about. I then said: 'No, no, no, I'm not going to do it. I didn't come here for this thing.'
"And we continued arguing.
"Now the time is moving because the bus is only waiting for me. Then, eventually, I said to him: 'No, I'm not going, and if I'm not going to play, then no problem'.
"Eventually, he had to give in because I was starting the game, and a week before, I had just come back from the national team camp.
"So I could see he got angry with me, and he ended up saying: 'Because you're making me late, okay, it's fine, maybe you'll do it next time'," he goes on.
Arendse says he got his match kit thereafter, and the first thing he noticed was how wet and heavy it was.
"We drew 1-1 with Rangers on a Wednesday. Then on Saturday, we played away against Black Leopards.
Phil tried the same thing, and I said: 'No, no, no'.
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"I said to him: 'Bra Phil, I'm not going to have this argument with you again. He then said to me: Okay, just come in and stand behind the door so the other players think that you also took a bath'."I think we beat Black Leopards 3-2, and I scored two goals.
After the game, I told him: 'Bra Phil, you see, I scored two goals today without using muti. So, don't ever come to me again to tell me about muti'.
"From that day, he never came to me again, and that was only my second game for Pirates."