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Letago Madiba
Letago Madiba (born 15 July 1991) is a South African soccer player who plays as a forward for Fatih Vatan Spor in the Turkish Women's Super League.[1] She has been a member of the South Africa women's national team.[2] Private lifeLetago Madiba was born at Arthur's Seat of Bushbuckridge town in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa on 15 July 1991,[1][3][4] into a family with four elder brothers.[5] She graduated from Lekete High School in Arthur's Seat, Bushbuckridge,[4] and holds a BTech degree in Sport and Exercise science from Tshwane University of Technology. She graduated with a Master's degree in Organisational leadership in 2021.[6] Early careerMadiba started playing football already at the age of five in the streets of Arthur's Seat.[7] Her brother Karabo, who would become a professional footballer, taught her the basics and skills. From a young age, she played with boys in the community, and became the only female football player in school.[5] Club careerIn her early career, she was a defender.[8] She played for the South African Tshwane University of Technology's team TUT Ladies in the SAFA Sasol Women's League.[7][9] She capped for South Africa 54 times in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons,[7][9] scoring a total of 82 goals. In addition, she netted 31 goals in various tournaments for the university team. Overall, she appeared in 75 games in the Sasol League, and scored a total of 103 goals,[7] winning the championship in 2017–18. She won also the University Sports South Africa (USSA) Football National Club Championship and the ABSA Women's Championship.[3][4] In 2018, although she decided to retire from football to seek permanent employment, her team coach Tebogo Mokae convinced her to finish the season.[5][10] In February 2019, she got a chance to go to Spain, where she trained for a month with two clubs, which helped renew her confidence in a football career.[10] The assistant coach of TUT Ladies, Nadia Kroll, offered her a contract to play in Belarus. Madiba had to decide within three days, as the Belarusian club was in preparation for a major European tournament. Her childhood dream of playing overseas came through when she took that chance.[10] In July 2019, she moved to Belarus, and joined ZFK Minsk two weeks before their participation at the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying round.[2][7][11] She played in two of the three qualification matches, and scored one goal.[3][12][13][14] Arranged by her manager Kroll, she went to Turkey in October 2019, and signed a contract to play as a forward with ALG Spor,[3][7][15][16] a club in Gaziantep, who had just been promoted to the Women's First League at the end of the 2017–18 season.[5] She scored eleven goals in 14 matches of the 2019-20 Turkish Women's First Football League season,[1] before it was discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.[6][17] Her team was entitled to represent Turkey at the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League, as the top-ranking team, when the league was stopped.[5][17] In the 2020–21 Turkcell Women's League, she transferred to Fatih Vatan Spor in Istanbul.[18] International careerIn April 2014, Madiba was admitted to the South Africa women's national team, nicknamed "Banyana Banyana", to play in a friendly match against Zimbabwe,[8] During a national team camp just before the 2014 African Women's Championship, she tore her ACL, LCL, and meniscus. She underwent two surgeries, knocking her out of action for 14 months.[5][6][7] She was called up to the national team for the 2017 COSAFA Women's Championship – Group C matches,[19] but only played in a handful of matches.[2][7][16] Career statistics
Honours
References
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