Phil Masinga

Philemon Raul Masinga (28 June 1969 – 13 January 2019) was a South African professional footballer and manager who played as a striker from 1990 to 2002. He was renowned as a strong who stood out for his leadership on the pitch, and he was known for his great dribbling, speed, and his incredible goalscoring ability and finishing, he is widely regarded as one of the best South African strikers of all time.

Club career
He made his debut for Jomo Cosmos in 1990, before moving on to Mamelodi Sundowns.

In 1994 he left for English Premier League club Leeds United; the deal that his agent Marcelo Houseman did with Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson also involved Lucas Radebe moving to Leeds from Kaizer Chiefs. He played in the English Premier League for two years, playing 31 games and scoring five goals, and also scored a hat-trick in an FA Cup tie against Walsall on 17 January 1995.

Masinga moved to Switzerland with St. Gallen in 1996, followed by spells in Italy with Salernitana and Bari. In 2001, a return to English Football with Coventry City fell through after he failed to secure a work permit, following which he moved to Al Wahda FC in Abu Dhabi where he completed his playing career.

International career
Masinga made his international debut in July 1992 against Cameroon; this was South Africa's first match following readmission of the country to international football.

In an African Cup of Nations qualifier versus Zambia in 1992, Masinga became the first South African ever to be sent off in an international match. He was in the Bafana Bafana side when South Africa won the African Cup of Nations in 1996 and when they finished second to Egypt in the 1998 African Cup of Nations. "Chippa", as he was affectionately known, scored the decisive goal in the 1997 game against the Republic of the Congo that took South Africa to the 1998 World Cup in France. He played 58 games for his country, scoring 18 goals.


International goals
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 11 July 1992 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa  1–1 2–2 Friendly2 24 October 1992  1–0 1–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification3 25 July 1993 Sir Aneroid Jugnauth Stadium, Belle Vue Maurel, Mauritius  3–03–01994 Africa Cup of Nations qualification4 24 April 1994 Mmabatho Stadium, Mmabatho, South Africa  1–0 1–0 Friendly5 4 September 1994 Mahamasina Municipal Stadium, Antananarivo, Madagascar  1–0 1–0 1996 Africa Cup of Nations qualification6 15 October 1994 Odi Stadium, Mabopane, South Africa  1–0 1–07 13 January 1996 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa  1–0 3–0 1996 Africa Cup of Nations8 24 April 1996  1–0 2–3 Friendly9 9 November 1996  1–0 1–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification10 27 April 1997 Stade Municipal, Lome, Togo 2–1 2–111 24 May 1997 Old Trafford, Manchester, England  1–1 1–2 Friendly12 8 June 1997 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa  2–0 3–0  1998 FIFA World Cup qualification13 16 August 1997  1–0 1–014 24 January 1998 Independence Stadium, Windhoek, South Africa  2–1 2–3 1998 COSAFA Cup15 23 January 1999 King George V Stadium, Curepipe, Mauritius 1–0 1–1 2000 Africa Cup of Nations qualification16 27 February 1999 Odi Stadium, Mabopane,South Africa  2–1 4–117 16 December 2000 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2–0 2–1 2002 Africa Cup of Nations qualification18 25 February 2001 Chichiri Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi  1–0 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification



Managerial career
In 2006, Masinga briefly coached PJ Stars, a now-defunct third-division South African club.



Honours
Jomo Cosmos

 Nedbank Cup: 1990

Mamelodi Sundowns

 National Soccer League: 1993

Leeds United

League Cup; Runner-up: 1996

South Africa

 Africa Cup of Nations winners: 1996
 Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 1998



Death
On 13 January 2019, the president of the South African Football Association, Danny Jordaan, announced his death. Masinga had been admitted to hospital the previous month, due to cancer.

Other websites

Klerksdorper.com The Number One Internet Site for Klerksdorp

References

Category:1969 births
Category:2019 deaths
Category:Cancer deaths in South Africa
Category:South African soccer players