Some tidy quotes by the Pie Man, i wasnt aware of his tough upbringing. Gives you an insight is to why he never stops running considering the like he could have had:
Everton's South African ace Stephen Pienaar has revealed how football rescued him from a life of crime.
Pienaar said: “I grew up in Westbury, the toughest place in South Africa outside of Soweto. The crime rate was high and the life expectancy short.
“Because our house was in the area where the drug gangs hang out, they’d say to me ‘You be our look-out. If you see someone you don’t know, just whistle.’
“Sometimes I’d get involved but I was more afraid of my mum than I was of the gangs. If she found money in my pockets she’d want to know where it came from. I’d have to lie and say we’d played football against some other boys for money.
“It was difficult to stay out of trouble. It was a dodgy area and the temptation was huge. I’d be so envious of the boys who’d turn up with new sneakers from their drugs money.
“But I knew I’d get a hiding from my mum if I got involved and I didn’t want to go to school covered in bruises.
“Now I realise how fortunate I was to have a mum who was always on my case to go to get an education.
“She brought up four children on her own and it was only because she was so strict that we managed to escape the gangs and drug dealers.”
The South-African international also revealed how his move to Everton came about.
He said: “After six months in Germany I told the sports director ‘I’m not welcome here so I want to go’.
“But Dortmund couldn’t find a replacement so I stayed another six months and probably played the best football of my career after Thomas Doll took over as coach. Then at the end of the season, I got a call from my agent telling me that I was going for a medical at Everton.
“It was completely out of the blue and I knew nothing about Everton. I had to go on to the internet to find out about them.
“When I discovered they were a famous club who had qualified for the Champions League the previous year I told my agent I’m ready to go. I didn’t even say goodbye to my team-mates at Dortmund.
“I was welcomed and accepted by everyone at Everton from my very first day. Now I want to pay back that friendship. We’ve got two more league games to play before the FA Cup final and the manager won’t let us ease up because we want to overtake Aston Villa for fifth place.
“In South Africa they call David Moyes the white witch doctor because of what he has achieved with Everton.
“We’re a massive club with a great history but now we want to achieve some things in the modern era.
“We’ve already beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the Cup so beating Chelsea at Wembley is not an impossible task.
“It’s not often that you get to a Cup final when you play for Everton and that will motivate us even more. Our hunger is the key.”
Everton's South African ace Stephen Pienaar has revealed how football rescued him from a life of crime.
Pienaar said: “I grew up in Westbury, the toughest place in South Africa outside of Soweto. The crime rate was high and the life expectancy short.
“Because our house was in the area where the drug gangs hang out, they’d say to me ‘You be our look-out. If you see someone you don’t know, just whistle.’
“Sometimes I’d get involved but I was more afraid of my mum than I was of the gangs. If she found money in my pockets she’d want to know where it came from. I’d have to lie and say we’d played football against some other boys for money.
“It was difficult to stay out of trouble. It was a dodgy area and the temptation was huge. I’d be so envious of the boys who’d turn up with new sneakers from their drugs money.
“But I knew I’d get a hiding from my mum if I got involved and I didn’t want to go to school covered in bruises.
“Now I realise how fortunate I was to have a mum who was always on my case to go to get an education.
“She brought up four children on her own and it was only because she was so strict that we managed to escape the gangs and drug dealers.”
The South-African international also revealed how his move to Everton came about.
He said: “After six months in Germany I told the sports director ‘I’m not welcome here so I want to go’.
“But Dortmund couldn’t find a replacement so I stayed another six months and probably played the best football of my career after Thomas Doll took over as coach. Then at the end of the season, I got a call from my agent telling me that I was going for a medical at Everton.
“It was completely out of the blue and I knew nothing about Everton. I had to go on to the internet to find out about them.
“When I discovered they were a famous club who had qualified for the Champions League the previous year I told my agent I’m ready to go. I didn’t even say goodbye to my team-mates at Dortmund.
“I was welcomed and accepted by everyone at Everton from my very first day. Now I want to pay back that friendship. We’ve got two more league games to play before the FA Cup final and the manager won’t let us ease up because we want to overtake Aston Villa for fifth place.
“In South Africa they call David Moyes the white witch doctor because of what he has achieved with Everton.
“We’re a massive club with a great history but now we want to achieve some things in the modern era.
“We’ve already beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the Cup so beating Chelsea at Wembley is not an impossible task.
“It’s not often that you get to a Cup final when you play for Everton and that will motivate us even more. Our hunger is the key.”
