Johannesburg – BIDVest Wits’ Erwin Isaacs on Wednesday revealed that he faked injuries regularly at his former club Santos to avoid travelling to away matches, and also admitted to have lived a carefree life before he left the now relegated club in the winter.
“At Santos things were easy for me, but that’s not how it is here in Joburg.
“There [at Santos] I would get called to come and play a match in the starting line-up, even if I was sick, like if I had flu or something,” said Isaacs, who joined big spending Wits during the off-season.
“Sometimes I would fake injuries so that I didn’t play in the away matches,” the midfielder-cum-striker added.
Isaacs was no fan of travelling and would get homesick each time he was away with Santos.
It’s for this reason he took so long to finally move away from the Mother City, having spent nine years with the Cape club before deciding to head up north to join Wits.
Now seemingly a more mature player after making his move to Johannesburg, the 25-year-old admits to have been initially homesick after joining the Clever Boys, but is now settling in.
“When I came to Joburg, the first month was hard for me because I did not have my family with me. I was not used to being away from home.
“But I am a strong boy. Now I know how it is here [in Johannesburg] and I have settled in well and I’m starting to play my normal game,” he said.
A settled Isaacs is what Wits will need when they take on Kaizer Chiefs in their first cup match this season on Friday night at Bidvest Stadium in the Telkom Knockout last 16, three weeks after the Clever Boys lost 3-1 to the Naturena club in the league.
Isaacs is no stranger to playing against Amakhosi in knockout competition matches, having done so at Santos previously, and has warned his teammates not to lose concentration against a club that have generally done well in the short form of the game.
“This is our first cup game of the season and we need to do well.
“We played them in the league [last month] and they beat us.
“But now we know how to contain them.
“However, playing Chiefs in cup games is not easy.
“I remember some of the cup matches we played against them when I was at Santos,” he added.
“They are experienced and we should not give them room to create chances.
“They have a lot of support which makes life difficult for their opponents. We should score first because if they are a goal down, it won’t be easy for them.”
A practically new Wits squad made a shaky start to the campaign under new coach Antonio Habas Lopes, but two victories over KwaZulu-Natal clubs, Golden Arrows and Maritzburg United, in their last two league matches have since propelled them up to sixth place, a big confidence-booster ahead of their game with Chiefs. – The Star