![]() Letago of ALG Spor in the 2019–20 Turkish Women's First League. | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 15 July 1991 | ||
Place of birth | Arthur's Seat, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Fatih Vatan Spor | ||
Number | 91 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2016–2018 | TUT Ladies | 54 | (82) |
2019 | Minsk | 4 | (2) |
2019–2020 | ALG Spor | 14 | (11) |
2020– | Fatih Vatan Spor | 41 | (11) |
International career | |||
2014–2019 | South Africa | ||
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 5 February 2023 |
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]
Letago 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]
Madiba 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]
In 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]
In 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]
Club | Season | League | Continental | National | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
ALG Spor | 2019–20 | First League | 14 | 11 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 14 | 11 |
Total | 14 | 11 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 14 | 11 | ||
Fatih Vatan Spor | 2020–21 | First League | 6 | 1 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
2021–22 | Super League | 22 | 8 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 22 | 8 | |
2022–23 | Super League | 13 | 2 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | |
Total | 41 | 11 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 41 | 11 |