It may be hard to imagine now but once upon a time, South Africa produced the continents finest strikers who plied their trade abroad and locally. Here are the top 10 strikers in South African history (in order):
10. Daniel Mudau
South African Caps: 16
South African Goals: 3
Career goals for club and country: 165
Strengths: Finishing and positioning
Daniel ‘Mambush’ Mudau spent 11 of his 12-year career at Mamelodi Sundowns where he is the all-time top goal scorer for the club.
Mambush didn’t have much of an international career because, in his prime, South Africa was stacked with striking talent. His 16 international caps for Bafana might have been a little fewer than what he would have wished for, but Mudau was part of Clive Barker’s Africa Cup of Nations winning squad in 1996 on home soil.
Mudau was a ‘Fox in the Box’ type forward. A deadly striker, He scored most of his goals in the 18-area, not particularly skilful but scored a lot of goals. 🦊
9. Pollen Ndlanya
South African Caps: 29
South African Goals: 5
Career goals for club and country: 98
Strengths: Strength and shot power
After signing for Kaizer Chiefs at a young age, Pollen Ndlanya only managed to play four games for Amakhosi before he sent packing to Manning Rangers.
At The Mighty Maulers, ‘Trompies’ proved his worth scoring 24 goals in 66 games and had Chiefs regretting letting him go.
They ask for love back, he returned to Chiefs, and his second spell proved to be more fruitful than his first.
Ndlanya represented Bafana Bafana between the years of 1997-2001. He would get scattered game time. He was favoured by some coaches and not even considered by others.
Pollen Ndlanya was a big strong forward who was nimble for his size. Technically gifted and lethal in front of goal.
He became one of only two South African strikers at the time to achieve scoring 100 goals in the PSL after Mudau during the 1998/1999 campaign. 💯
8. Tokelo Anthony Rantie
South African Caps: 40
South African Goals: 12
Career goals for club and country: 47
Strengths: Pace and finishing
Even though Tokelo Rantie has had a troubled few years in recent times. He makes this list because of his potential. We can’t understate his quality as a striker.
At 22, after spending most of his career on loan overseas from the Stars of Africa Academy, he got a permanent move to Swedish side Malmö FF. Only after a year, he transferred to England’s Bournemouth for a reported club-record fee at the time of £2.5 million. After playing the majority of the games in his first season, due to injuries and form, he started getting less playing time.
Rantie scored crucial goals for South Africa in big qualification games. Like the brace in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 2-2 draw against Nigeria in 2014. Or, the 1-0 win against the Super Eagles in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification in 2017.
Rantie is still only 29. He hasn’t played much football in three years because of the aforementioned personal problem. Should he get his head right, Tokelo has a lot more to offer South African football. 🇿🇦
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7. Sibusiso Zuma
South African Caps: 66
South African Goals: 13
Career goals for club and country: 146
Strengths: Pace, skill and acrobatics
Zuma started his career at African Wanderers at the age of 20 but really made a name for himself at Orlando Pirates where he, as a winger, scored 37 goals in only 70 appearances.
His good form had caught the attention of European sides. In June 2000, Zuma joined Danish club F.C. Copenhagen, where he shined as a player.
Zuma began his career on flanks terrorising defenders with his blistering pace and skill. In Europe, he was used more as a striker because of his speed and finishing ability.
In 2001, Zuma was tied for 29th place for the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year award. Quite an achievement for a South African player.
Outside FC Copenhagen’s Telia Parken Stadium, there is an inscribed statue of Zuma.
Sibusiso Zuma
Legend status at F.C. Copenhagen pic.twitter.com/1xWJudlXxH
— IbholalaseMzansi (@Cafulele1) June 8, 2020
In 2013, Zuma’s bicycle kick was voted the greatest moment in the history of F.C. Copenhagen.
I once came across Sibusiso Zuma once, at a bank. As much of a football fan as I am, I didn’t feel the urge to ask for an autograph or more appropriately a picture for Instagram. This is not because I don’t like the guy or anything. It’s because he isn’t as revered here as he is in Copenhagen.
Zuma had a fairly good international career. He has represented South Africa 66 times, he represented us at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and, he was the captain of South African National team at the 2006 African Cup of Nations tournament. But, his emergence came at a time where the national team’s form was declining and we didn’t have access to the Danish league to share in his success over there. 🇩🇰
6. Katlego Mphela
South African Caps: 53
South African Goals: 23
Career goals for club and country: 101
Strengths: Strength, finishing and shot power
As a 19-year-old teenager Katlego Mphela moved from Jomo Cosmos to RC Strasbourg in Ligue 1 (France). He didn’t get much game time in his two seasons there, in which one he spent on loan at French Ligue 2 side Stade Reims.
He came back to South Africa played a couple of season at Supersport United but came into prominence with his move to Mamelodi Sundowns. Killa scored 48 goals from 118 appearances and won his fair share of medals at Chloorkop.
One of, and maybe perhaps, Mphela’s greatest Bafana Bafana moment came in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup third-place playoff against Spain. Coming in as a substitute Mphela produced arguably the goal of the tournament.A 30-yard pile driver of a free-kick which turned out to be the last action of the 90 mins. It sent the game into extra time. South African eventually lost the tie but he then became a fixture in the national team. He scored an impressive 23 goals from only 53 games.
Mphela was a strong striker who had a fierce shot hence his nickname ‘Killa’. He made intelligent runs and his reading of the game was excellent.
His form fell off a cliff once he joined Kaizer Chiefs but he was getting on in age and had some off the pitch issues too. He may have had a better career if he made better decisions but there is no doubting his quality. 💀
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5. Philemon Masinga
South African Caps: 58
South African Goals: 18
Career goals for club and country: 164
Strengths: Shot power, heading ability, and the use of both feet
Phil Masinga started his professional career at Jomo Cosmos when he was 20 years old. He moved to Mamelodi Sundowns a year later and went on goal scoring binge. Masinga found the back of the net on 98 occasions out of 108 competitive matches.
Phil’s incredible goal return had European scouts salivating. He moved to the English Premier League side Leeds United where he joined his Bafana teammate Lucas Radebe. He struggled for game time at Eland Road only playing 31 games and mustering five goals in his two years there.
Masinga moved to Switzerland with St. Gallen in 1996, followed by spells in Italy with Salernitana and Bari where he had somewhat of a career resurrection.
Masinga was a tall lanky deceptively quick forward. He could score with both feet and head. He wasn’t the most technical of footballers but he knew where the back of the net was.
Masinga was part of the South African team that won the 1996 AFCON title. But, his greatest achievement may be taking the nation to France courtesy of his volley that beat Congo at the FNB Stadium.
Phil Masinga sadly passed on early last year due to cancer. RIP legend. 🙏
4. Shaun Bartlett
South African Caps: 74
South African Goals: 28
Career goals for club and country: 147
Strengths: Pace, heading ability and finishing
Bartlett began his career with his hometown Cape Town Spurs and then moved to Major League Soccer and the Colorado Rapids in the league’s inaugural season in 1996. Halfway through the 1997 season, he was traded to the MetroStars on 10 July.
Bartlett left MLS for load spell back in Cape Town Spurs. He later went on loan to FC Zürich and then transferring there for good in 1998. He went on loan to Charlton Athletic in 2000 and moved there in 2001 on a permanent deal worth £2 million.
Shaun Bartlett, as one pundit put it, is one of those Premier League strikers who, for the most part, ‘was just there’. At Charlton Athletic, he scored 26 goals in more than 100 league and cup games.
Bartlett is the second all-time leading scorer behind Benni McCarthy for the South African national team, with 28 goals in 74 appearances. He helped Bafana Bafana to the 1996 African Nations Cup and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals.
Barlett had lots of pace in his younger days and could finish expertly. He won the Premier League Goal of the Season award in 2000–01, for his volley against Leicester City. ⚽
https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/893418683095277568
3. Mark Williams
South African Caps: 23
South African Goals: 8
Career goals for club and country: 116
Strengths: Finishing and pace
Mark Williams played for many clubs in many countries throughout his career, including Brazil, England, China, and Belgium. He is somewhat of a journeyman never staying at a club for more than two seasons in his 14-year career. His best years came in his time in China in which he scored 59 goals in 104 appearances playing for Guangdong Hongyuan F.C., Qiánwéi Huándǎo, and Shanghai Zhongyuan Huili.
Williams was a good finisher who was quick off the mark. He is another player who fell victim to the amount of talent Bafana had in the striking department. He often found himself competing for a place in the team.
Mark Williams will always be remembered for being in the squad that played in the 1996 African Cup of Nations. He was the joint-second scorer with 4 goals in the tournament. He scored both goals in the final after coming on as a substitute, in which South Africa beat Tunisia 2-0 to win the cup for the first time.
2. Siyabonga Nomvethe
South African Caps: 81
South African Goals: 16
Career goals for club and country: 170
Strengths: Pace, finishing, skill and positioning
Nomvethe joined African Wanderers in 1997 as a teenager and he helped the club secure promotion to the PSL. Kaizer Chiefs came for the young boy and he soon found himself leading the line for Amakhosi.
His talent could not be contained in South Africa. Bhele moved overseas and spent time in Italy, Sweden, and Denmark.
He notched 81 caps for Bafana Bafana scoring 16 times. He scored the solitary goal against Slovakia in the 2002 World Cup to give South Africa their first-ever win at the tournament.
Nomvete because of his slight frame began his career out on the wing. He was a quick, durable, and skilful player with no fear. In his later years at Moroka Swallows, he used his intellect more than he used his physical traits.
Nomvethe won the PSL Footballer of the Year, Absa Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Golden Boot with 20 goals at the age of 34 following a successful season with Swallows.
He is currently the all-time leading top scorer in the PSL. 🙌🏽
1. Benni McCarthy
South African Caps: 80
South African Goals: 31
Career goals for club and country: 192
Strengths: Finishing, positioning, shot power, and intelligence
Undoubtedly the most talented player in South African football history is Benni McCarthy. And the best of the South African strikers.
McCarthy first came to most South African’s attention when along with Egyptian striker Hossam Hassan, McCarthy was the joint top scorer in the 1998 AFCON with seven goals. He scored four in 13 minutes against Namibia. Plus, he was named Player of the Tournament.
Cape Town-born McCarthy played in the top leagues in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and England, winning the Eredivisie with Ajax and the Portuguese title and 2004 Champions League with FC Porto under Jose Mourinho.
McCarthy is South Africa’s leading scorer with 31 goals in 80 games. He didn’t make to the 2010 squad but he scored goals for Bafana Bafana at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments.
He had a knack of scoring in big games. Like his brace against Manchester United in champions league quarter-final for Porto. Or coming in off the bench for Blackburn Rovers and scoring the goal that would knock out Arsenal in the FA Cup.
He was a deadly expert finisher with any legal part of his anatomy. He came to South Africa after West Ham terminated his contract because they claimed he was overweight. Benni went on to win four trophies in his first season back in South Africa with Orlando Pirates. He at age 34 with a little bit of weight was simply a class above the rest of the competition the country had to offer.