I was taken aback by the bleating of one Jeridi Rami after Tunisians CS Sfaxien lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates in a CAF Confederation Cup match at Orlando Stadium last week. I wondered if it was sour grapes or an attempt to cover up his embarrassment at losing to a team they underrated.Rami suggested the trickery by players like winger Sifiso Myeni was a show of disrespect and unsporting behaviour.Mind you, it's not the first time that we have been subjected to post-match comments ranging from the ludicrous to the downright bizarre.The stiff-upper-lip English, in particular, are major whiners whenever they lose to a more skilful side, particularly from Africa.I suppose it comes from their claim that they invented football. And so, when African opponents add skill and flair to the game - something they themselves have genetically never been blessed with - they lift their noses in the air and claim you are not a gentleman.They lament that you do not play according to the rules and so disrespect them. Disrespect them my foot.If their rules suggest you must engage in haring down the line and then hoof the ball into the penalty area, where a lumbering forward would hopefully challenge for the ball like a battering ram, that, unfortunately, is not our style.This is Africa and we do things differently. We slow things down and you cannot blame us when we use the advantage we have to make opponents lose their temper and concentration by slipping the ball between their legs.Former England and Tottenham Hotspur gaffer Glenn Hoddle threatened never to play Orlando Pirates again, claiming they disrespected him and his players by showboating, which enabled them to outfox Spurs.Manchester United defender Phil Neville also unashamedly passed remarks on television after Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky had flipped the ball over an opponent. Neville said he would have gone into Rosicky with a lunging, two-footed tackle!I recall, at the height of apartheid in 1977, when the government decreed that white males were empowered by law to stop and search any black male they encountered in the street and ask them to produce their pass books.It was a degrading experience for most township folk. But the people endured the humiliation and knew the only place they would extract revenge was on the football field.When Highlands Park met Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, it was not a fight for the points. It was payback time.It effectively developed into a psychological and political war. Players spent the entire week planning how to return the humiliation without getting arrested.They perfected the art of feigning on the dusty township streets and derived a lot of satisfaction out of proving their superiority over their oppressor after having made him look stupid and inferior on the field.That is why I am totally baffled by some experts and critics who should know better, instead of slamming Thabo Rakhale, Mark Mayambela and Masibusane Zongo and trying to discourage them from doing what they are good at.South African football finds expression in the shoe shuffle; the shibobo and the show-me-your-number.We have been complaining that spectators no longer attend matches because the games are boring. Yet when the likes of Rakhale shake things up and elicit excitement from spectators they are labelled clowns.I think if the players are doing it to gain an advantage for their clubs, do not restrict them.Allow them the freedom to enjoy and express themselves, but teach them to do it in a reasonable, safe space.Follow me on: @TKwenaite..