Obinna Okafor has disclosed how he skipped a proposed trial at AmaZulu in favour of Orlando Pirates where he spent three months and was lined up as replacement for Lesley Manyathela prior to his death.
Okafor arrived at Pirates during pre-season ahead of the 2003/04 season.
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The Nigerian came in with Pirates anticipating the departure of Manyathela to Europe where he had been on trials after he struck 21 goals the previous season.
With a move to Europe still in the pot, Manyathela was unfortunately killed in a car accident on the night after playing against Jomo Cosmos in the SAA Supa8 Cup quarterfinals at Rand Stadium on August 9, 2003.
"It was AmaZulu that I was meant to join and the ones that sent the invitation for us to get the visa but the day we left we were told that the people from Pirates will pick up us at the airport.
"So that is how Pirates hijacked us and I ended up there for three months," Okafor reveals to KickOff.
"I was with Ikenna Eneh who played for the Nigeria junior national teams.
"Roy Barreto was the coach at the time but according to him he wasn't aware that we were coming.
"At that time, they were looking for a striker to replace Manyathela because when I came, he had gone to Europe for trials and then when he arrived back, he played one game in the cup before his death.
"I was still training with Pirates when he died and had been on my way out to jog from the hotel where I stayed in Mayfair when I heard from the security that Manyathela had died in accident.
"At that time, I had already been at Pirates for a few weeks and continued at the club before I ultimately left.
"I had trained well with all looking promising until the game against Tottenham Hotspur (World Cup Bid Challenge match) in Durban when I became sick just before the game.
"It was then that I was told I had gotten malaria in Nigeria which took two weeks to be felt in my body.
"So, I couldn't play the following day and then we came back to Johannesburg.
"I was waiting for them to finalise my contract, but I realised that it was dragging for three months while I was staying in a hotel in Mayfair.
"During those three months I was training but I ultimately went back to them to ask for my passport because my team Julius Berger was in the semi-finals of the 2003 CAF Cup Winners Cup which we lost in the final to Etoile du Sahel.
"My coach at Julius Berger said if nothing is happening then I should just come back.
"While I was at Pirates, there had been another proposal that I be signed and go to Durban Stars in the first division on loan, but it all failed.
"Instead of me, Pirates ended up signing a Congolese striker (Kabanga Tshamala) along with another two Congolese players including a goalkeeper (Makweni Mayala and Felix Mwamba Musasa).
"At Pirates, I wasn't chased away but I felt like I cannot be kept here for this long without a contract.
"The club kept on bringing other strikers and letting them go which I felt like they were looking for someone better than me," says Okafor.
After his time at Pirates, Okafor went on to play for Tembisa Classic/Maritzburg United then had a stint with Benoni Premier United in the 2006/07 season before spending time in Finland at FC KTP after which the burly striker's career was cut short by injury before he turned 30.
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