The South African stars who played with Pelé, Ronaldo — and won the Champions League

While South African cricketers and rugby players tend to thrive in overseas leagues, it is not as common to see a local football player at a top club abroad.

However, the country has seen several players snapped up by international scouts, who went on to play with some of the greatest names in football history, including Pelé and Cristiano Ronaldo.

One of the most iconic players to grace South African football was Ephraim Matsilele Sono, better known as Jomo Sono.

Sono was born in Soweto in 1955 to Eric “Scara” Sono, who played for the Orlando Pirates.

However, Jomo’s father died in a car crash while he was still young, and his grandparents raised him after being abandoned by his mother.

His entry into his father’s former team is said to have come about after he attended a match in the early 1970s, where the Pirates were short a player and reportedly asked him to step in for 90 minutes.

Sono not only impressed the crowd on his unexpected debut for the club, but also the coaching staff. He went on to earn the nickname Jomo, which means “burning spear,” from the Orlando Pirates faithful.

After making 26 appearances for the Sowetan side, Sono went to play for the New York Cosmos in the United States, where he would line up alongside the legendary Pelé.

He remained in the US for another two seasons, playing for Colorado Caribou and the Atlanta Chiefs before returning to South Africa to play for the Buccaneers again.

Sono remained at the club for five years, making 55 appearances and scoring 30 goals, before moving back abroad to join the Toronto Blizzard.

This proved to be his longest stint at any club, spending seven seasons there before retiring as a player after nearly 20 years in the game.

After retirement, he returned to South Africa and bought Highlands Park Football Club, which he renamed Jomo Cosmos. Despite several successes in the 2000s and early 2010s, the team currently competes in South Africa’s third tier.

Sono also served as Bafana Bafana’s caretaker coach in 1998, 2002, and 2003.

Big Brother

Jomo Sono proved to many young South Africans that success could be achieved overseas, inspiring one of the country’s most successful generations of players.

One notable name is forward Benni McCarthy, who enjoyed significant success in Europe’s top leagues and is still the only South African to win the UEFA Champions League.

McCarthy was born in Hanover Park, Cape Town, in 1977 and started playing for a team called Young Pirates, which his uncles managed.

At 17, he was signed by first-division side Seven Stars, based in Cape Town. McCarthy played 29 games for the outfit before moving on loan to Cape Town Spurs.

Seven Stars later merged with Cape Town Spurs to form Ajax Cape Town, a feeder team for Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam.

After impressing at youth level, McCarthy was called up to the Amsterdam club, where he scored 20 goals in 36 games.

Spanish side Celta de Vigo then signed the Capetonian. However, he struggled to find the form that had impressed at Ajax and was eventually loaned to Porto after two seasons.

The Portuguese team was managed by José Mourinho at the time, who revived McCarthy’s confidence and helped him rediscover his scoring touch.

Porto then signed McCarthy permanently ahead of the 2003/04 season. He had a standout campaign, winning the UEFA Champions League and finishing as the Primeira Liga’s Golden Boot winner.

After two more years at the club, he moved to England, where he spent four seasons at Blackburn Rovers, playing alongside fellow South African Aaron Mokoena.

As a number 9, McCarthy was effective at Blackburn, scoring 37 goals in 109 league matches and becoming a fan favourite in his first season.

He then moved to London, where he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with West Ham in 2010.

However, due to injuries and poor form, the club offered McCarthy a £1 million pay-off to terminate his contract early in 2011.

This marked the end of his 14 years in European football. Later that year, he signed a two-year deal with Orlando Pirates.

Winning the league with the Buccaneers made him the first South African player to win three league titles with three different clubs: Pirates, Porto, and Ajax.

Since retirement, McCarthy has gone into management, notably joining Manchester United as striker coach in 2022 and, more recently, becoming head coach of the Kenyan national team.

Representing South Africa in Manchester

After playing for Tottenham Hotspur’s youth side from 1991 to 1995, midfielder Quinton Fortune joined Mallorca before moving to Atlético Madrid later that year.

However, he struggled for first-team opportunities, playing 61 matches for the B team and only six for the senior side.

After a trial at Manchester United in 1999, Sir Alex Ferguson signed Fortune, who remained at Old Trafford until 2006.

During this time, United won three Premier League titles. Fortune fell just short of the ten league appearances required for a winner’s medal but was awarded one by special dispensation after the 2002/03 season, when he featured nine times.

After that campaign, he got to play alongside Portuguese prodigy Cristiano Ronaldo, who the club had signed from Sporting CP.

Following seven seasons at Manchester United and 76 appearances in all competitions, Fortune never again spent more than one season at a club, turning out for Bolton Wanderers, Brescia, Tubize, and Doncaster Rovers.

He retired from club football in 2010.

The Chief

Lucas Radebe, born in Diepkloof in Soweto, says his parents initially opposed a football career, though he knew it was his calling.

After matriculating, Kaizer Chiefs came knocking in 1989, and Radebe says, “the rest is history.”

Amakhosi recruited him as a central midfielder before he was later converted into a defender.

In 1994, Kaizer Chiefs sold Radebe and Philemon Masinga to Leeds United for a reported £250,000. Radebe was included largely to keep Masinga happy, but the move would ultimately transform his career.

Although he took time to adapt to English football, Radebe was eventually appointed Leeds captain in the 1998/99 season, when the team finished fourth.

The following season, Leeds placed third and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Radebe helped them reach the semi-finals.

His importance to the side reached such heights that manager David O’Leary famously said, “Lucas should be set in stone and never allowed to leave.”

The Leeds faithful adored the South African, earning him the nickname “The Chief.” He even inspired the name of the British rock band Kaiser Chiefs, who took it from his former club.