Andries "Six Mabone" Maseko (25 December 1955 – 26 October 2013) was a South African

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

striker who played for Moroka Swallows,

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Arm ...

and Phoenix Inferno.

Early life

Maseko was born to Ephraim and Lettie Maseko (born 1914) in

KwaThema KwaThema is a township south-west of Springs in the district of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1951 when Africans were forcibly removed from Payneville because it was considered by the apartheid government to be too clos ...

. Ephraim Maseko died before he turned professional in 1972.

Playing career

In 1970, he joined Moroka Swallows from amateur club Harmed Stars at the age of 15. During a 1974 NPSL match against Umlazi Citizens, Maseko scored 8 goals in 13-1 win at the

Sinaba Stadium Sinaba Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Benoni, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Benoni Premier United. The stadium holds 15,000 people. It underwent a major upgrade during 2009, as it ...

Daveyton Daveyton is a township in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality of Gauteng in South Africa. It borders Etwatwa to the north-east, Springs to the south and Benoni to the south-west. The nearest town is Benoni, which is approximately 18 kilome ...

. He was part of the Swallows era where the players were known as the 'Massacres' because majority of their surnames started with 'M'. The side include like Frederick Malebane, Mongezi Joel Mnini, Trott Nchilo Moloto, Ephraim Mashaba, Jimmy Mahlangu and Daniel Mophosho. He joined

in 1978 and became one of the few South African black players in America alongside

Abednigo Ngcobo Abednigo Valdez "Shaka" Ngcobo (10 May 1950 – 1 November 2014)Mark Gleeson″Kaizer Chiefs legend Shaka Ngcobo dies.″In: Business Day (South Africa), 3 November 2014. was a South African association football player who played in South Af ...

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of South ...

, Kaizer Motaung and

Patrick Ntsoelengoe Patrick Pule "Ace" Ntsoelengoe OIS (26 February 1952 – 8 May 2006) was a South African soccer player who is widely considered as one of the greatest the country has ever produced. Early life Ntsoelengoe was born to Daniel Ndimande and Marg ...

. During his spell at Washington Diplomats, he was a teammate of

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

. Maseko left Washington Diplomats in 1982 and joined

and played together with

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. After leaving San Jose Earthquakes, he had a short spell at Phoenix Inferno before returning to South Africa to play for Benoni United. He retired at the age of 30 during his spell at Grinaker Rangers due to a groin injury which made him limp from years after that. Maseko said "The injury was a blow to my career as I was forced to hang up my boots for good, if it wasn't for that I would have played for a few more years".

International career

Maseko was in the South African team that defeated

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

by a score of 7-0 in 1977 at

Rand Stadium The Rand Stadium is a stadium in Rosettenville, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was set to be utilized as a training field for teams participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup after being completely rebuilt and reopened in August 2008. D ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. He also played against an unofficial selection from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and helped beat them 7-0. The previous night he,

Lawrence Chelin Lawrence Chelin (24 August 1958 – 23 June 2020) was a South African professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Chelin played for Arcadia Shepherds‚ Durban United and Durban City, as well as for American team the Atlanta Ch ...

and

spent the night in

Banks Setlhodi Motsau Joseph "Banks" Setlhodi (born 12 April 1947) in Randfontein, South Africa is a retired South African association football player who played in South Africa for Randfontein Young Zebras and Kaizer Chiefs. Early life Setlhodi grew up in ...

's room planning how they would play and shared the goals among themselves.

Personal life

He was married to Gladys Maseko and had three children.

Death

Maseko died on 26 October 2013 at the

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, it is the largest hospital in Africa and third largest hospital in the world. It has 6,760 staff members, 3,400 beds and occupies . The hospital is located in the Sow ...

after he was admitted on Thursday the 24th.

said "I knew Andries way before he joined Moroka Swallows. As a footballer, we all know that he was one of the best players but, on a personal level, he was very humble and down-to-earth...We just connected with him on another level, even away from football. He was one of the greatest guys I have ever come across."

Style of play

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maseko, Andries 1955 births 2013 deaths People from KwaThema Association football midfielders South African soccer players South African expatriate soccer players South Africa international soccer players Moroka Swallows F.C. players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Phoenix Inferno players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Sportspeople from Gauteng