Benedict Vilakazi (born 9 August 1982 in Soweto, Gauteng) is a retired South African football (soccer) player who last played as a midfielder for

Botswana Meat Commission The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) is a non-profit body which was established by the government of the newly-independent Botswana in 1965. Its main functions are the buying, slaughtering, processing, and marketing of all beef and beef products with ...

in Botswana. He was noted as one of the smallest professional international footballers during his time (standing at a mere 1.57 m) but made up for this with a strong physical presence. He was born in Diepkloof, Soweto and is nicknamed "Tso" and "Little Napoleon" due to his leading skills.

Career

Vilakaz played for South Africa at the

2006 African Nations Cup The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won ...

in Egypt. His professional career was rocked by sex scandals with juveniles including being dragged to court on allegation of statutory rape. He was however acquitted of the charge as it was alleged that it was with consent. The complainant has since given birth to his son. He publicly apologised to soccer fans after his acquittal. The sex scandal also prohibited him going through with his move to the Swedish side Djurgården that was supposed to go through right before the scandal hit. On 27 July 2007, he was transferred to Danish Superliga club

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but curre ...

. He was given a 5-year contract. Due to sickness he had not adjusted to the European style of football, and therefore he played only a few games in the Danish league. Vilakazi returned to South Africa July 2008, signing a contract with Pretoria-based Mamelodi Sundowns, where he was also joined by former FC Copenhagen striker

Sibusiso Zuma Sibusiso Wiseman Zuma (born 23 June 1975) is a South African former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward or midfielder. Club career Early career Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Z ...

. After not making an impact at Sundowns, Vilakazi was loaned out to Mpumalanga Black Aces for the 2010–11 PSL season. However, Vilakazi had a fallout with Black Aces' management due to missing several training sessions and other disciplinary problems. Consequently, the Sundowns did not renew his contract after its expiration at the end of the 2010–11 season. Vilakazi had short spells at

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe Region, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was tak ...

and in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

with

Malanti Chiefs Malanti Chiefs is a Eswatini soccer club based in Piggs Peak. Achievements *Swazi Cup: 1 :: 2008. Performance in CAF competitions *CAF Confederation Cup: 1 appearance ::2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The verti ...

before moving to Botswana Premier League team

Notwane FC Notwane FC is a football club from Botswana based in Gaborone. It is named after the Notwane River. Notwane is owned by GMG Global Investments, a subsidiary of GMG Holdings and recently made major scoop by signing former South African internat ...

in July 2013. In November 2013, he terminated his contract with Notwane after not receiving his salary and signing-on fee, and joined

on a one-year contract., Tso remains the highest scorer of all time for Orlando Pirates, with 52 goals. Tso had a stint as the head coach of Orange Vaal Professionals, a team campaigning in the ABC Motsepe league, the 3rd tier of South African Football.

References

External links

* at Danmarks Radio * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilakazi, Benedict 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Soweto Zulu people South African soccer players South African expatriate soccer players South Africa international soccer players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Orlando Pirates F.C. players AaB Fodbold players Expatriate footballers in Denmark Danish Superliga players Association football midfielders Mpumalanga Black Aces F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Black Leopards F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Eswatini South African expatriate sportspeople in Eswatini Notwane F.C. players Gilport Lions F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Botswana South African expatriate sportspeople in Botswana