Lucas Radebe

Kaizer Chiefs

After playing for amateur side ICL Birds in the now-defunct Bophuthatswana Soccer League, and was spotted by Patrick Ntsoelengoe who recruited him to one of South Africa's top clubs, the Kaizer Chiefs, in 1989. Radebe originally started his career with the Kaizer Chiefs as a goalkeeper, and then switched positions to central midfield and then finally to central defence. He played 155 matches for the club between 1989 and 1994.

Leeds United

In 1994, Radebe and another South African player, Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, moved to Leeds United for a transfer fee of £250,000. Radebe was only included in the deal to keep Masinga happy; as it turned out, he became the more valuable investment. Initially the move was not a success; Radebe did not agree with then Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson, and suffered injuries which prevented him for earning a regular first team place. Radebe returned to the goalkeeper position in March 1996, replacing John Lukic in the position after he suffered an injury in the second half of a defeat to Middlesbrough. Radebe would again play in the goalkeeper position the following month when goalkeeper Mark Beeney was sent off for handling the ball outside his area in the 17th minute against Manchester United. Radebe was brought on as a substitute in place of Mark Ford, and despite Leeds losing 1–0, Radebe earned 'cult-hero' status at the club due to his performance. However, when Wilkinson was replaced by George Graham, his…

Thebe Mabanga, a Mail & Guardian journalist, wrote that South African fans remember Radebe in his Kaizer Chiefs days as "a lanky, flamboyant central midfielder who switched to central defence with ease, snuffing out any opposition threat with exquisite, acrobatic scissor kicks and diving headers, and man-marking the most lethal strikers into silence".

Following the end of apartheid, Radebe made his debut for South African national team in their first international match on 7 July 1992 against Cameroon. Having recently recovered from a long-term knee injury, he was a member of the South African team that won the 1996 African Cup of Nations. Radebe was also the captain of the South African national football team during both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. South Africa failed to reach the knockout stages on both occasions; however Radebe did get on the score sheet in 2002. He earned 70 caps for South Africa and scored two goals during his international career, with his last match being against England on 22 May 2003. After retiring, Radebe was influential in South Africa's successful bid to host the 2010 World Cup. He could also be seen working as a pundit for South African television, and during ITV's coverage of the tournament.

Radebe was born to Emily and Johannes Radebe in the Diepkloof section of Soweto, near Johannesburg, as one of 11 children. He attended the local Bopasenatla Secondary School until he was 15 years old. His parents sent him to one of the former homelands in Grade 10, Bophuthatswana, as a way to keep him safe from the violent neighbourhood of Diepkloof Zone Four in Soweto. There he attended Ngotwane High School near Zeerust.