Peter Tsepo Masilela (born 5 May 1985) is a South African professional soccer player who played as a left back for

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Nata ...

Early career

Masilela first played amateur soccer for local team, Manchester and later the Disco Makua Academy which was run by former

Witbank Aces Black Aces were a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 b ...

player Steve Makua who is the father of Frank Makua who played for Kaizer Chiefs. He then moved to Vodacom League club, Sonas Mpumalanga.

Club career

Such was his meteoric rise Masilela made his full international debut before making his

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 ...

debut. In the same vein, after only one season in top-flight football in his home country, he made the move to Israeli club

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

Maccabi Haifa

Masilela signed a four-year contract with Maccabi Haifa on 31 August 2007. He was a crucial part of Maccabi Haifa winning the Israeli Championship, and qualifying for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. Masilela made 13 assists and one goal in the 2009–10 season. In June 2011, he extended his contract with a two-year deal.

Getafe

On 20 August 2011, Masilela joined the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

on a season-long loan deal from Maccabi Haifa. He returned to Maccabi Haifa after the expiry of his loan deal with Getafe.

Kaizer Chiefs

Masilela returned to South Africa after five years overseas to sign for Kaizer Chiefs in mid-2012. He made his debut in November 2012 in a 3–2 win over Moroka Swallows.

International career

Masilela was the first player to be called up while campaigning in the

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afr ...

. Since 2006 he has played for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, participating in 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 ...

2008 African Nations Cup The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confede ...

, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and the 2013 African Nations Cup.

Personal life

His father, Eric Masilela is a

legend having played with the likes of Lawrence Siyangaphi, Harris Chueu, Steve Makua and Thomas Ngobe, father of Dumisa Ngobe. He is paternal half-brother of

Innocent Maela Innocent Maela (born 14 August 1992) is a South African professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Orlando Pirates F.C., Orlando Pirates, which he Captain (association football), ...

Honours

Maccabi Haifa *

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

: 2008–09, 2010–11 * Toto Cup: 2007–08

References

External links

Getafe official profile

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masilela, Tsepo 1985 births Living people People from Witbank South African men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Hellenic F.C. players Thanda Royal Zulu F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players La Liga players Getafe CF footballers Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players AmaZulu F.C. players South Africa men's international soccer players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Israel South African expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Spain South African expatriate sportspeople in Spain South Africa men's A' international soccer players 2014 African Nations Championship players