Tokelo Anthony Rantie (born 8 September 1990) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a striker for the South Africa national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Parys Parys (pronounced ) is a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province of South Africa. The name of the town is the Afrikaans translation of Paris. The name was given by a German surveyor named Schilbach who had partic ...

, Free State, Rantie started his career in different academies, most notably the Stars of Africa Academy in his native South Africa. Gabestar was his mentor. He proceeded to move to Ferroviário de Beira in 2010 and later CD Maxaquene in neighbouring Mozambique. In 2011, he moved to Swedish Division 2 side

IFK Hässleholm IFK Hässleholm is a Swedish football club from Hässleholm that was established in 1905. The team is currently playing in Division 2 Östra Götaland. Several well known players have played at the club including England international strike ...

on a loan deal from Stars of Africa Academy as part of their co-operation to bring South African players to Sweden.

Orlando Pirates

As Rantie had scored 10 goals in 12 games after half of the season he was loaned out to

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

in the

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

for the 2011–2012 season. He scored 7 chips in 20 games for the pirates. The club tried to convince Stars of Africa Academy to complete a full

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

but failed after the club's demands had been too high.

Malmö FF

On 9 August 2012, Allsvenskan club Malmö FF confirmed via their Twitter account that Rantie was joining the club. The transfer was a 17-month loan deal scheduled to end on 1 January 2014 with an option for Malmö to buy Rantie at a set price, the price was not disclosed. Rantie made his debut for the club on 16 August 2012 when he played 45 minutes in a friendly against Italian side

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Rantie proceeded to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in his competitive debut for the club on 20 August 2012 when Malmö FF played

Sandvikens IF Sandvikens IF is a Swedish football club located in Sandviken. The club, formed 6 June 1918, has played 21 seasons in the highest Swedish league, but is in the third highest Swedish league, Division 1. Sandvikens IF are affiliated to the Ge ...

away from home in the second round of

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

, Malmö won the match 6–3 after extra time. On 27 August 2012 Rantie made his first league appearance for Malmö FF when he came into the game from the bench in the 62nd minute against

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its h ...

. Rantie later scored his first league goal for the club in the 89th minute, affirming the result 2–0 for his new club. Overall Rantie played 11 league matches and scored three league goals for Malmö FF during the 2012 season. Rantie started the 2013 season with a knee injury which meant that he was out for the majority of the pre-season. He managed to score a spectacular goal in the first league match, a home fixture against

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish ...

, when he managed to dribble past several defenders before scoring the first goal of the game and his first of the season via the crossbar. On 23 April 2013 Rantie signed a four-year contract until the end of the 2016 season to make him a permanent Malmö FF player. In total Rantie played 21 matches and scored seven goals for the club during the league title winning season. He was given permission by Bournemouth to return to the club for a couple of days in November 2013 to celebrate the title with the players and fans of Malmö FF.

AFC Bournemouth

Malmö FF confirmed on 28 August 2013 that they had sold Rantie to English club Bournemouth. The transfer fee was undisclosed but was reported to be a Bournemouth club record fee of £2.5 million. Rantie made his début on 17 September, replacing Scottish winger

Ryan Fraser Ryan Fraser (born 24 February 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Aberdeen, AFC Bournemouth and Ipswich Town. ...

in a 1–0 win against Barnsley at the Goldsands Stadium. He made his first start for the club four days later in a 3–3 draw against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, lining up alongside strike partner Lewis Grabban before being replaced by Wes Thomas after 60 minutes. His first goal for the club came on 9 November, as he opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

, before Danny Ings scored late on to level the match. His second goal for the club came in January 2014, scoring the winning goal as Bournemouth beat

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

2–1. Rantie struggled to break into the starting eleven with Bournemouth top scorer Lewis Grabban and January signing

Yann Kermorgant Yann Alain Kermorgant (born 8 November 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Born in Vannes, Brittany, Kermorgant began his career with the Stade Rennais Youth Academy, but aged 14 h ...

from

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

being preferred by manager

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of Premier League club Newcastle United. A defender during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

. However, despite this, with the departure of Grabban to Norwich this summer for an estimated sum of £3,000,000 after his release clause from the new contract he signed just 6 months earlier was triggered, and a strong performance in the last game of the season in a 1–0 defeat away to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

by the South African.

Gençlerbirliği

On 26 August 2016, Bournemouth announced on their official website that Rantie had signed a permanent deal with Turkish side Gençlerbirliği for an undisclosed fee.

Mamelodi Sundowns

On 10 September 2019 he signed a 3-year contract with

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 ...

. Rantie's contract with Sundowns was terminated on 5 January 2020.

International career

Rantie made his senior national team debut for the

South Africa national soccer team 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 Boy ...

on 15 June 2012 in a friendly game against

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

, scoring his first goal for ''Bafana Bafana'' in the process. In 2013 Rantie was picked for his first tournament with South Africa when he was selected as part of the 23 men squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

held in South Africa.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Updated 3 September 2017.''

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Orlando Pirates *

: 2011–12 *

Telkom Knockout The Telkom Knockout was a South African professional football knockout competition which comprised the 16 teams in the South African Premier Soccer League. The competition was established in 1982 and was first known as the Datsun Challenge. Unde ...

: 2011–12 ;Malmö FF * Allsvenskan:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

;Bournemouth * Football League Championship: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rantie, Tokelo 1990 births Living people Soccer players from the Free State (province) South African expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Mozambique Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in England Men's association football forwards Orlando Pirates F.C. players Malmö FF players AFC Bournemouth players Allsvenskan players Division 3 (Swedish football) players English Football League players South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players South African expatriate sportspeople in England South African expatriate sportspeople in Mozambique South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Clube Ferroviário da Beira (football) players Expatriate footballers in Turkey Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Süper Lig players Premier League players IFK Hässleholm players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players