Lucas Radebe

Lucas Radebe

Personal information
Full name	Lucas Valeriu Radebe
Date of birth	12 April 1969 (1969-04-12)
Place of birth	Soweto, South Africa
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	ICL Birds
	Kaizer Chiefs
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1994	Kaizer Chiefs	113	(5)
1994–2005	Leeds United	200	(0)
National team‡
1992–2003	South Africa	70	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30/08/2006. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30/08/2006

Lucas Valeriu Radebe (born 12 April 1969) is a former Leeds United and South African football player. During his career, Radebe was renowned for being a world-class centre back and a great ambassador for the sport.

He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, following this he moved to Premiership side Leeds United and over the course of several years firmly established himself as a club legend, retiring after having played over 200 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at the aforementioned clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief" respectively, the latter of which was given to him by former Leeds manager David O'Leary.^{[citation needed]}.

Recognised as South Africa's first international soccer star, he captained not only Leeds United but South Africa, most notably at World Cup 2002 where he scored his only World Cup goal. Nelson Mandela famously said of Radebe; "This is my hero."^{[citation needed]}

Early career

Radebe was born in the Diepkloof section of Soweto, near Johannesburg, as one of eleven children. When he was 15 years old he was sent to the "bantustan" of Bophuthatswana by his parents in order to keep him away from the violence that was affecting Soweto during the apartheid era.^{[citation needed]}

In order to keep himself busy during his stay in Bophuthatswana, Radebe played football as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Radebe was spotted and signed by Kaizer Chiefs as a midfielder. In 1991 he was shot whilst driving, though luckily he was not critically wounded.^{[citation needed]} The motive for the shooting never became clear, but Radebe himself believes that someone had been hired to shoot him in order to prevent him from moving to another club.^{[citation needed]}

Partially motivated by the shooting incident and at the request of his FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman,^{[citation needed]} Lucas and another South African player, Philemon "Chippa" Masinga, moved to Leeds United in 1994 after a meeting between then Manager of Leeds Howard Wilkinson and Marcelo Houseman; Radebe was sold by the Kaizer Chiefs for £250,000.^{[citation needed]}

After a slow start to his Leeds career, Radebe flourished under the management of George Graham,^{[citation needed]} by the time David O'Leary took charge in 1998, chants of "Rhoo" and cheers at the mention of "The Chief's" name became commonplace at Elland Road, as he developed a touching relationship with the fans.^{[citation needed]} In recognition of his leadership and ability, Radebe was appointed captain of the team for the 1998/99 season.

As captain of Leeds, Radebe was very successful: in the 1998/1999 season, Leeds finished fourth in the FA Premier League qualifying for the UEFA Cup. During the 1999/2000 season, Leeds finished third in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League, reaching the semi-finals. However, in 2000, Radebe sustained knee and ankle injuries, which kept him out of the game for almost two years. During his time at Leeds Lucas turned down the chance to move to both Manchester United and A.C. Milan feeling too strong an emotional bond to Leeds and their fans. Radebe had also attracted interest from Fabio Capello at Roma and Alex Ferguson commented at the time "Everyone should be interested in Lucas". Radebe scored three goals during his spell at Leeds, but none in the league. He first came against Oxford United in the 1997/98 FA Cup, and he then scored twice in Leeds' 1999/2000 UEFA Cup campaign against Partizan Belgrade and Spartak Moscow.

Retirement

At the end of the 2005 season, Radebe retired from professional football in a star-studded testimonial match at Elland Road involving players from all around the world, and Leeds United players past and present. He has been offered a role on the Leeds United coaching staff as a result.

He is still a crowd favourite at Elland Road and fans can be heard frequently singing his name even after his retirement showing how much he endeared himself to them during his playing career. In 2008, a local Leeds Brewery asked for suggestions on a new Beer name and the most popular suggestion was 'Radebeer', showing the Leeds fans' fond admiration of Lucas.

Lucas held a testimonial at Elland Road on May 2, 2005 attended by a crowd of over 37,886. The Final Score was Leeds United XI 3-7 International XI. Numerous International Stars and Leeds United Legends turned out for the game showing how well regarded Lucas is throughout the world of football. The players included Gary McAllister, Vinnie Jones, Jay-Jay Okocha, Mario Melchiot, John Carew, Bruce Grobbelaar, Olivier Dacourt, Nigel Martyn, Gunnar Halle, Neil Sullivan, David Batty, Gary Speed, Gordon Strachan, Gary Kelly, Clyde Wijnhard, Phil Masinga, David Wetherall, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Tony Yeboah, Paul Robinson, Chris Kamara, Matthew Kilgallon, Aaron Lennon and Eirik Bakke. Lucas also held a retirement match in Durban, South Africa between a South African Invitation XI and Lucas Radebe All Stars at Kings Park Soccer Stadium The match finished South African Invitation XI 3-2 Lucas Radebe All Stars. The proceeds from both of these matches were combined with other money raised and donated to charity as part of Lucas's big donation to charity in his final year as a player. He has also seen some of the best and played with some of the best, and in 2010 when Lucas was in South Africa he then played soccer with Kyle Brett Owen, who is the best soccer tricks performer in the world and Kyle and Lucas became good friends.

On 28 August 2006, Lucas announced that he was going back to Leeds after failing to secure a job with the World Cup hosts to be involved in the set-up of Bafana Bafana even though he was promised. He said he was tired of waiting for unreliable people who had allegedly promised him a role in the national team set up as the South African Football Association prepare to host the next World Cup in 2010.

It is also known that Lucas is friendly with former South African President Nelson Mandela. On a visit to Leeds, Mandela told dignitaries "This is my hero".

On 8 October 2009, The English Football Association announced Radebe as an ambassador to help boost the 2018 World Cup bid.

During the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Radebe was a pundit for ITV's match coverage and also a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.

A biography, Lucas: From the Streets of Soweto to Soccer Superstar by Richard Coomber will be published in England on 25 September and in South Africa in November. Radebe is also to give a ground breaking interview for Leeds Uniteds biggest selling unofficial publication; The Square Ball. He is also set to attend Leeds' home game against Sheffield United at Elland Road where he will be unveiled at Half time, as well as signing copies of his book at the club store. Radebe also appeared on football show Soccer AM as a special guest

Radebe revealed in September 2010 that he would like to manage Leeds United in the future and also manage the South African National side. He says both jobs are the only coaching jobs that he would consider.

Radebe has recently revealed that he would like to take up a coaching role and is on trial to come back out of retirement as a player/coach at Kaiser Chiefs with a look to return to Leeds United as an assistant manager or first team coach, but would only like two further years as a player.

International career

Radebe was first included in the South African national team in 1992 and he made his international debut on 7 July 1992 against Cameroon. At this time he was developing a reputation as one of the country's brightest young stars, his blossoming career reflected a positive feeling with all those involved in the national team.

In 1996, he was a member of the South African team that won the African Nations Cup. This triumph, coupled with the country's earlier victory in the Rugby World Cup helped to establish the country as a real force in the world of sport. Nelson Mandela proudly presented "Bafana Bafana" with the trophy.

Radebe was also the captain of the South African national football team during both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2002 FIFA World Cup's. South Africa failed to reach the knockout stages both times, however Radebe did get on the score sheet in 2002.

He earned 70 caps for South Africa and scored 2 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, after having missed out in 2006, which was staged in Germany. He could also be seen working as a pundit for South African television, and during ITV's coverage of the tournament.

International goals

Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 December 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh	Uruguay	1–0	3–4	1997 Confederations Cup
2	12 June 2002	Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon	Spain	2–2	2–3	2002 World Cup

Charitable work

Radebe has been an ambassador of FIFA for SOS Children's Villages; he also received the FIFA Fair Play Award in December 2000 for his contribution in ridding soccer of racism as well as for his work with children in South Africa.

In April 2003, for recognition of his efforts both on an off the field, Radebe was given the Contribution to the Community Award in the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards.

Miscellaneous

He was voted 54th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004.

The current popular band the Kaiser Chiefs are said to have taken their name from Lucas' old club as he had such an influence on them as young men, with all the members being Leeds fans.

He is friends with golf great Tiger Woods and has played frequently in his Gary Player Invitational charity golf tournament to help raise funds for various children's causes.

His wife Feziwe died of cancer in October 2008.

In December 2008, Radebe was treated for a heart complaint after collapsing while at the gym.

A suite at Elland Road is named the Radebe Entrance.

Leeds United named their Mascot after Radebe, calling the mascot 'Lucas The Kop Cat'.

In April 2010 he won the PFA Merit Award. He is quoted as saying, when presented with the award, "Football has played such a big part in lifting my community. I'm very proud to get such a great award."

In September 2010 Lucas was in Leeds to sign copies of his first biography titled 'LUCAS FROM THE STREETS OF SOWETO TO SOCCER HERO'. Lucas drew a massive crowd to the signing which took place in he Leeds club superstore on the day Leeds played host to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United. At half time Lucas took to the pitch in front of the 33,500 rapturous crowd.

In December 2011, He was inducted to The Football Ramble's Dean Windass Hall of Fame

Further reading

• Graeme Friedman "Madiba's Boys The Stories of Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish" Comerford & Miller, United Kingdom ISBN 1 919 888 08 Features a foreword by Nelson Mandela

External links

• National Football Teams Profile
• A short documentary following Lucas back to his home town in Umlazi Township