Philemon Raul Masinga (28 June 1969 – 13 January 2019) was a South African professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and manager who played as a
striker from 1990 to 2002.
He played in the
English Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
for
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, and
Italian Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
for
Salernitana
Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is
an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...
and
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
. He also played for
Jomo Cosmos,
Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...
with his cousin
Bennett Masinga
Bennett Masinga (13 January 1965 – 14 November 2013) was a South African association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker.
He was the cousin of former footballer Phil Masinga.
Masinga died on ...
,
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website ...
and
Al-Wahda. He represented South Africa in 58 international games, scoring 18 goals. In 2006, he briefly went into football management with
PJ Stars.
Club career
He made his debut for
Jomo Cosmos in 1990, before moving on to
Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...
.
In 1994 he left for English Premier League club
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
; the deal that his agent Marcelo Houseman did with Leeds manager
Howard Wilkinson
Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...
also involved
Lucas Radebe
Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back.
He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 m ...
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
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
tie against
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on 17 January 1995.
Masinga moved to
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
with
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website ...
in 1996, followed by spells in Italy with
Salernitana
Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is
an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...
and
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
.
In 2001, a return to English Football with
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
fell through after he failed to secure a work permit, following which he moved to
Al Wahda FC
Al Wahda Football Club ( ar, نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadi ...
in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
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
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
qualifier versus
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
in 1992, Masinga became the first South African ever to be sent off in an international match. He was in the
Bafana Bafana
The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and it is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. The team's nickname is Bafana Bafana (The Boys ...
side when South Africa won the
African Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
in 1996 and when they finished second to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
in the 1998
African Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
. "Chippa", as he was affectionately known,
scored the decisive goal in the 1997 game against the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
that took South Africa to the
1998 World Cup in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
He played 58 games for his country, scoring 18 goals.
International goals
Management
In 2006, Masinga briefly coached
PJ Stars, a now-defunct third-division South African club.
Honours
;Jomo Cosmos
*
Nedbank Cup
The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...
: 1990
;Mamelodi Sundowns
*
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
:
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
;South Africa
*
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
winners:
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
*
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
runner-up:
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
Death
On 13 January 2019, the president of the
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 ...
,
Danny Jordaan
Daniel Alexander "Danny" Jordaan (born 3 September 1951) is the president of the South African Football Association (South African Football Association, SAFA). He is a former lecturer, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He led South Africa's ...
, announced his death.
Masinga had been admitted to hospital the previous month, due to cancer.
See also
*
List of African association football families
This is a list of association football (soccer) families. The countries are listed according to the national teams of the senior family member if the other family member played for a different country.
A Algeria
* Farès Bahlouli, Mohamed B ...
References
External links
*
*
Klerksdorper.com The Number One Internet Site for Klerksdorp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masinga, Phil
1969 births
2019 deaths
People from Klerksdorp
Sportspeople from North West (South African province)
Expatriate footballers in England
South African expatriate sportspeople in England
South African soccer players
Place of death missing
South Africa international soccer players
South African expatriate soccer players
Leeds United F.C. players
Premier League players
1996 African Cup of Nations players
1998 African Cup of Nations players
1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players
1998 FIFA World Cup players
Jomo Cosmos F.C. players
Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players
Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players
Al Wahda FC players
S.S.C. Bari players
U.S. Salernitana 1919 players
Serie A players
Serie B players
Expatriate footballers in Italy
South African expatriate sportspeople in Italy
FC St. Gallen players
Swiss Super League players
Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
South African expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates
South African expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
Association football forwards
UAE Pro League players
Deaths from cancer in South Africa