Lucas Radebe - Smartcape

Lucas Valeriu Radebe

Lucas Valeriu Radebe is a former Leeds United and South African football player. He is also known as a World class footballer and leading ambassador for sport. He has been recently appointed as SA Tourism's "2010 Ambassador to the World" to promote the country ahead of the World Cup kick-off next year.

Radebe was born on December 4, 1969 in Diepkloof, a section of Soweto, near Johannesburg, as one of eleven children. During the apartheid regime, Radebe's parents sent him to Bophuthatswana in order to keep him away from the violence that was affecting Soweto at the time. While he was in Bophuthatswana he kept himself busy by playing football. He started as a goalkeeper before moving to midfield. He played for the ICL Birds which is now Bophuthatswana's Soccer League.

Radebe later played for Kaizer Chiefs as a midfielder for 10 years before signing with the South African National Team in 1992. In 1996, he was a key player for Bafana Bafana and they won the African Cup of Nations. Later, in 1998 Radebe was appointed as a captain for the South African national soccer team. It was then that Leeds United spotted him. Radebe was recognised as one of the best defenders in the Premier League, and he earned the respect of both players and fans.

In 2004, he was also voted number 54 in the Top 100 Great South Africans and was honoured with the FIFA Fair Play Award for doing the great job. Radebe's contribution to soccer has been a motivation to young players on making South Africa a proud hoster of 2010 FIFA world cup.

Radebe retired from professional football in 2005, in a testimonial match at Elland Road involving players from all around the world. The match was attended by a crowd of over 37,886. Even now, his fans still value him – at Leeds matches, they still sing his name even so long after his retirement. Now every Premiership scout is searching for the next Lucas Radebe.

In 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 for 2010, which he said had already been promised to him. This changed when the minister of Tourism, Minister Martinus van Schalkwyk announced that Radebe will be South African Tourism's 2010 ambassador to the world.

Radebe's success on the soccer field tends to overshadow other aspect of his life. He also works for a number of educational, social and charitable initiatives, including the Starfish charity for HIV and Aids orphans and the "Reach for a Dream" Foundation; He has also served as the FIFA ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages and in 2000 received FIFA's Fair Play Award for his efforts to rid soccer of racism.

In 2005, the University of Cape Town honoured him with a Masters degree in Social Sciences.