Moeneeb Josephs (''pronounced Muh'Neeb''; born 19 May 1980) is a retired South African professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Josephs began his career with Cape Town Spurs at the age of 17 in 1997 and played for its successor

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ma ...

for seven years. In 2006, he moved to Gauteng where he played for Bidvest Wits for two years before moving to

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

for a record-breaking fee.

International career

Josephs has played at international level for South Africa national team and was South Africa's number one goalkeeper at the

2008 African Cup of Nations 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 with the Confeder ...

replacing the injured Rowen Fernandez. He did not make the final squad for the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

, but earned selection to the squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

at Fernandez's expense. He was not expected to see much playing time as back-up to Itumeleng Khune, but on 16 June 2010 he was called on as a 79th-minute substitute for

Steven Pienaar Steven Jerome Pienaar (; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current coach of the U14 team of Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates. He hails from Westbury, a suburb in Johannesburg's Westrand. He was a ...

following Khune's sending-off against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Josephs was powerless to stop the resultant penalty from

Diego Forlán Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former football player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his ...

as Bafana Bafana lost the match 3–0 with two goals from Forlan and a stoppage-time strike from Álvaro Pereira. Khune's suspension meant that Josephs played in South Africa's final group game against France, where they won 2–1 but were eliminated from the World Cup. On 24 May 2012, he announced his retirement from international football. He was called back after two years by

Gordon Igesund Gordon Igesund (born 22 July 1956) is a former South African football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Highlands Park in the Premier Soccer League. Early life Igesund was born in Durban to George Norman Igesund (born 193 ...

for CHAN 2014 hosted in South Africa and he played a full match in final group stage against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in 3–1 defeat in a place of injured Itumeleng Khune. That was his final game for Bafana and he was personally criticized together with Lerato Chabangu for a loss against Nigeria by Minister of Sport and Recreation

Fikile Mbalula Fikile April Mbalula (born 8 April 1971) is a South African politician and current Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) since December 2022. He was a cabinet minister between 2010 and 2023, most proximately as Minister of Tr ...

, when he said "Bafana Bafana are week, useless and they are the bunch of losers individual"."

Personal life

Josephs hails from

Mitchell's Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

on the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats () is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geo ...

. Josephs is Muslim.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Josephs, Moeneeb 1980 births Living people South African men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers South Africa men's international soccer players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players South African Muslims Cape Coloureds Bidvest Wits F.C. players Cape Town Spurs F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Soccer players from Cape Town South Africa men's A' international soccer players 2014 African Nations Championship players 21st-century South African sportsmen