AmaZulu midfielder Hendrick Ekstein has revealed discipline as one of the biggest lessons he learnt in Europe.
Ekstein spent five years at Kaizer Chiefs between 2014 and 2019 before moving overseas. He enjoyed a two-year stint abroad first time out with Sabah FC in the Azerbaijan Premier League in 2019, scoring three goals in 13 appearances and at Sabail FK in the 2020/21 season, played 26 matches also scoring three goals.
The former Amakhosi man spoke to iDiski Times writer Lethabo Kganyago in edition 182 of the newspaper, where he said there are a lot of distractions for footballers especially abroad and being disciplined and staying indoors helped him to focus on his work.
“Obviously, discipline and this is not to say that there isn’t any discipline here in South Africa,” Ekstein told iDiski Times.
“But discipline, dedication and hard work towards your craft. To also take your job seriously and to also know that football is the most important thing as footballers because there are a lot of things that side. They implement things that we might not like as players.
“That’s why even coach [Hugo] Broos, what I heard is that he wanted to know the number of players who were married. To stay disciplined helps and being home because as players we may want to always be out and about but if you have somebody who is going to align you towards football then it becomes better for you.”
