Ayanda Patosi (born 31 October 1992) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Iranian club

Foolad Foolad Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال فولاد خوزستان, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian football club, based in Ahwaz, Khuzestan that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. Foolad F.C. ...

Club career

Early career

At the age of 16, Patosi trained with Belgian club

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

. He spent the 2010–11 season with ASD Cape Town, and Patosi later returned to Belgium on a tour with the African Soccer Development school. While there, Patosi signed a four-year contract with

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

in May 2011. He made his professional debut for Lokeren in the 2011–12 season, winning the Belgian Cup that same year.

Cape Town City

On 1 June 2017,

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

announced via their official Twitter profile that they had signed Patosi from Lokeren on a free transfer. On 12 August, he made his debut for the club as a substitute in a

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. T ...

cup match against Polokwane City, replacing Sibusiso Masina in a 0–1 win. Eleven days later, he made his first league start in a 3–1 win over

Platinum Stars Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed ''Dikwena'', the Tswana name for ''Crocodiles''. The team's best finish in ...

in which he scored his first goal for the club.

Loan to Esteghlal

In January 2019, Patosi signed for Iranian side Esteghlal on loan for the remainder of the season, with the club retaining the option to purchase. He became the first South African player to join an Iranian team. He was assigned the number 5 shirt. His transfer was delayed as

Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...

was waiting for

South African Football Association The South African Football Association (colloquially known as SAFA) is the national administrative governing body that controls the sport of football in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and is a member of the Confederation of African Football ...

to prove that Patosi had played international soccer in the last two years and he has decent international quality. Patosi made his debut for the club on 20 February in a 2–0 win against Pars Jonoubi Jam, scoring the second goal. Esteghlal's first goal was also a deflected corner kick from Patosi by opponent Emad Mirjavan into their own net. On 1 June, Esteghlal decided not to opt their option to sign Patosi on permanent basis. Three days later, he announced on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

his spell with the club has ended and he would not stay in the club for another season.

Loan to Baniyas

After returning to Cape Town, he was linked with a transfer away from the club. On 14 July 2019, Patosi signed for Emarati side

Baniyas Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards an ...

on a season-long loan deal with the option to buy, reuniting with

Winfried Schäfer Winfried "Winnie" Schäfer (born 10 January 1950) is a German football manager and former player who last managed of Qatari club Al-Khor. Playing career Winfried Schäfer played 403 Bundesliga matches and scored 46 goals in the (West) German top ...

, his former coach at Esteghlal. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Ajman Club Ajman Club (Arabic: نادي عجمان‎) is an Emirati football club based in Ajman. In 2015, Ajman was relegated to the second division, but managed to climb back to the top flight in 2017. Honours The club has gained the following honours: ...

in which he scored his team's equalizing goal.

Foolad

On 9 January 2020, Patosi returned to Iran and signed a six-month loan deal with

. On 2 February, he made his debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat against

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club ( fa, باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان اصفهان, ''Bâšgâh-è Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan S.C., are an Iranian spor ...

. On 14 February, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 victory against

Paykan The Paykan ( fa, پيکان meaning ''Arrow'') is the first Iranian-made car produced by Iran Khodro (formerly called "Iran National") between 1967 and 2005. The car was very popular in Iran from its introduction until its discontinuation. It ...

. Patosi was mostly left out of Foolad's squad by the manager

Javad Nekounam Javad Nekounam ( fa, جواد نکونام; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian retired professional association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder and is the current manager (association football), manager of Foolad F.C., F ...

due to weight issues following his return to soccer after the temporary suspension due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. On 11 September 2020, Cape Town City and Foolad reached an agreement for the permanent transfer of Patosi to Foolad with the player agreeing to a two year contract.

International career

Patosi was tipped in March 2012 by fellow player Anele Ngcongca as a possible future star of the

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. In November 2012, Patosi was hailed as a "sensation" and there were calls for him to be included in the national team set-up. He received his first call-up to the national team in December 2012. Patosi made his international debut on 12 October 2013, in a friendly match against Morocco, alongside fellow players Sibusiso Vilakazi and Kgosi Nthle. In December 2014 he was announced as being part of South Africa's provisional squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

. He did not make the final, 23-man squad.

Personal life

Patosi was born in

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. His father died when he was eleven and he was raised by his mother Nombulelo. In June 2014, he was a victim of a

carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...

when he was in

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride''. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s. History The ...

in Cape Town during the season break. The carjackers stole his car, however, Patosi was able to escape safely.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Patosi goal''.

Honours

Club

Lokeren *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2011–12 Belgian Cup, 2011–12, 2013–14 Belgian Cup, 2013–14 Cape Town City *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

;Foolad *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Cha ...

(1):

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup (Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of the Hazfi Cup. It ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patosi, Ayanda 1992 births Living people Soccer players from Cape Town South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Cape Town City F.C. (2016) players Esteghlal F.C. players Baniyas Club players Foolad FC players Belgian First Division A players South African Premier Division players Persian Gulf Pro League players Association football wingers South African expatriate soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium South African expatriates in Iran Expatriate footballers in Iran South African expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates