Lawrence Siphiwe Tshabalala (; born 25 September 1984) is a South African retired professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is considered to be one of the most well-known and decorated South African soccer players of his generation. He was the first player to make his international debut while still playing in the

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

. At 90 caps, he is the second most capped player of the South African national team and played at three

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

editions and 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 which he scored the opening goal of the tournament on 11 June 2010; the goal was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award.

Early life

Tshabalala was born on 25 September 1984 in Phiri as the first born of two children to parents Isaac Tshabalala (born 1964) and Hadifele Rebecca (née Makhubu) (1965–2010). His younger sister is named Mpumi. He grew up and lived in a face brick house until he was 19, that was owned by his grandparents. He lived there with his cousins and sister. His father worked as a taxi driver. He attended secondary school at Seanamarena Secondary School in Phiri,

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. Tshabalala aspired to be a chartered accountant as a young boy.

Club career

Kaizer Chiefs

Tshabalala played at the Kaizer Chiefs academy but only broke through to the senior team after spells with Alexandra United and Free State Stars. In January 2007 Chiefs brought back their own product after Ea Lla Koto was relegated to the

at the end of the 2005/06 campaign. At the time, Tshabalala was then sidelined for six months due to a serious knee injury.

2007–08 season

Tshabalala eventually made his debut in a 1–0 loss to Bidvest Wits on 31 August 2007. Tshabalala made his Soweto derby debut on 24 November 2007 in a 2–2 draw. Tshabalala played his first ever cup final on 1 December 2007 in the Telkom Knockout winning after a penalty shootout against

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

and played the full 120 minutes. He scored his first Chiefs goal on 12 December 2007 in a 4–2 win over Golden Arrows.

2008–09 season

Tshabalala continued to consistently deliver great goals, winning him the Player and Players' Player of the Year at the Kaizer Chiefs Awards Ceremony. He also picked up the Website Player of the Year, Goal of the Season and Readers’ Choice awards. All-and-all Tshabalala left the awards with R170 000 in prize-money, as well as a

Nissan X-Trail The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2000. Since 2018, it is positioned between the Qashqai and the larger Murano. Since the third-generation model, the X-Trail became the same vehicle as the North ...

2015–16 season

On 25 August 2015, Tshabalala gained attention for a volleyed goal from well outside the area which was nominated as one of the goals of the South African season. The goal, which came in a 4–0 win over Free State Stars coincidentally took place at the

FNB Stadium First National Bank Stadium or simply FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City and The Calabash, is an association football (soccer) and Rugby union stadium located in Nasrec, bordering the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. The site is m ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, the same venue where Tshabalala had scored a similar goal against Mexico in the world cup five years earlier. He made a total of 372 appearances scoring 58 goals.

Büyükşehir Belediye Erzurumspor

On 28 August 2019, Kaizer Chiefs announced that Tshabalala would be leaving for Turkish side Büyükşehir Belediye Erzurumspor.

AmaZulu

Tshabalala returned to South Africa in October 2020, joining South African Premier Division club AmaZulu F.C. He signed a one-year contract with the option of a second year. He was released in August 2021.

International career

Tshabalala was one of the first players to be called up to the South Africa national team while still playing in the

. Tshabalala made his national team debut in a friendly against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 14 January 2006. He was part of the South African squad at 2006 African Nations Cup,

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 with the Confeder ...

, 2013 African Nations Cup, and 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 ...

. On 11 June 2010, gaining his 50th cap for the nation of South Africa, he scored the opening goal of the

against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 55th minute, which erupted the full Soccer City (FNB Stadium) into wild celebrations. The game finished a 1–1 draw. That goal eventually made the shortlist for the Puskas Award, a nomination for goal of the year by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. In October 2017, Tshabalala was called up to two of South Africa's World Cup qualifying matches against Senegal – for the first time since 2014.

Style of play

Goal.com described Tshabalala as "a tricky winger with pace and can deliver fantastic crosses. His left boot can pack a powerful shot and he is a great option for set pieces as he has the ability to bend the ball".

Endorsements

In October 2009, Tshabalala and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...

were the first two players to launch the new

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CTR360 Maestri boots.

Personal life

Tshabalala's mother Rebecca Hadifele "Hadi" Makhubu (1965–2010) died on 5 December 2010, after sustaining a head injury after falling at a

bridal shower A bridal shower is a gift-giving party held for a bride-to-be in anticipation of her wedding. The history of the custom is rooted not necessarily for the provision of goods for the upcoming matrimonial home, but to provide goods and financial as ...

which she was attending with her husband Isaac. She was buried at the Avalon Cemetery on 11 December 2010 in

. The funeral was attended by notable figures such as

Pitso Mosimane Pitso John Hamilton Mosimane (born 26 July 1964) is a South African former professional football player and current coach. Club career Mosimane started his senior career at Jomo Cosmos, then he played for Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pira ...

Jimmy Tau Jimmy Tau (born 23 July 1980 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Northern Cape) is a South African former association football, soccer player who played as a Full-back (association football), right-back. He played for Kaizer Chiefs and Orla ...

, Morgan Gould as well as a performance by Joyous Celebration. A

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

man named Samson Nangani claimed that Tshabalala was his child and lost contact with his mother while she was still pregnant. Tshabalala denied being his son. Tshabalala was involved in a love scandal with Zanele Khanye Skhosana and former

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

academy player

Robin Ngalande Robin Ngalande Junior (born 2 November 1992) is a Malawian footballer who plays as a striker for Mighty Wanderers. Club career Born in Dedza, Ngalande began his career with Civo United. He later joined the youth team of Spanish club Atlético ...

, where one of them allegedly impregnated her. Tshabalala's first child, Owami, a boy, was born on 6 February 2015 by former Miss SA, Bokang Montjane whom he had been dating since 2012. The pair married in 2016.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tshabalala goal.''

Honours

Free State Stars * Baymed Cup: 2006 Kaizer Chiefs * Absa Premiership: 2012–13, 2014–15 *

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

: 2008 *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

: 2013 * Telkom Knockout: 2007, 2010, 2011 * Vodacom Challenge: 2009 * Telkom Charity Cup: 2010 Individual * SAFA Awards SAFA Footballer of the Year: 2010

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tshabalala, Siphiwe 1984 births Living people Soccer players from Soweto Men's association football wingers Men's association football midfielders South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players Free State Stars F.C. players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players AmaZulu F.C. players Erzurumspor F.K. footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players South Africa men's A' international soccer players 2014 African Nations Championship players 21st-century South African sportsmen