With Bafana Bafana icon Steven Pienaar having been lauded as the most skillful teammate by his former captain Phil Jagielka, we take a closer look at his long standing bromance with the former England defender. Here's a look!
The story
Last month, former Everton captain Jagielka stated that Pienaar was easily the most skillful player has ever played with.
It is perhaps no surprise that the former defender feels this way about the South African, as Jagielka is the third most-frequent player to play alongside Pienaar, with two former stars appearing on the same field for a staggering 175 matches, according to Transfermarkt.
Only goalkeeper Tim Howard and and former left-back Leighton Baines has played more matches alongside the ex-Bafana playmaker.
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Pienaar's and Jagielka's relationship runs quite deep, as the former has previously lavished praise for the Scillo whilst playing together at Goodison Park.
In 2013 following Pienaar's underwhelming stint at Tottenham Hotspur, Jagielka spoke of how highly he rates the former Mzansi midfielder.
"You can maybe count on the fingers on one hand how many bad games Steven's had, or not being up to scratch for his standard," Jagielka told the Liverpool Echo.
"We rely so heavily on him and Bainsey [Leighton Baines], it's the first place you look to when we don't play well. It's a bit unjust to single him out when he's not had a great day on the ball.
"He doesn't hide so sometimes that off-day can become worse because he keeps getting the ball but that shows the kind of character he is.
Speaking to Goal in 2020, Pienaar confirmed that Jagielka was one of the first people to welcome him at Everton after his move from Borussia Dortmund in 2008.
"Mikel Arteta, Phil Neville and Joseph Yobo really helped me. Alan Stubbs and Phil Jagielka too — even though he'd just joined," Pienaar told The Athletic.
Moreover, Pienaar was also recently recognised by BVB as one of their iconic no.10s.
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