Thabani Zuke (born 11 September 1998) is a South African 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 plays as a defender for Lamontville Golden Arrows and the South Africa national team.

Club career

Zuke was born in

KwaMakhutha KwaMakhutha is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, situated inland from eManzimtoti and means "at the Makhutha location", Makhutha is the clan name of the local king Makhanya and the word Makhutha means stale or rot, Kwa means place of. ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

. After playing reserve football for Lamontville Golden Arrows, he broke into their first team in 2020.

International career

Zuke was part of the South Africa under-20 squad that won the

COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup The COSAFA Under 20 Challenge is an annual tournament for under 20 teams from Southern Africa organized by COSAFA. Participants Teams that can technically enter are: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . Past winners The event s ...

, appearing in all of South Africa's matches at the tournament. He received his first call-up to the South Africa national team for World Cup qualification fixtures against

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. He appeared as a substitute in both of South Africa's qualifiers against Ethiopia.

Style of play

Zuke can play in multiple positions:

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

central 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 ...

and

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuke, Thabani 1998 births Living people South African men's soccer players People from eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality Soccer players from KwaZulu-Natal Men's association football defenders Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players South African Premier Division players South Africa men's international soccer players South Africa men's youth international soccer players 21st-century South African sportsmen