Thibang Sindile Theophilus Phete (born 4 April 1994), known as Cafu Phete is a 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 ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

club Chaves and the South African national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Kimberley, South Africa, Phete began his career in the

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

with

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

-based club

Milano United Milano United was a South African football club based in the Grassy Park suburb of the city of Cape Town that played in the National First Division. Milano won promotion to the National First Division in July 2012 after winning the 2011-12 West ...

, having previously graduated from the Stars of Africa Academy. In 2014, he joined Portuguese

Campeonato Nacional de Seniores The Campeonato de Portugal (Portuguese for 'Championship of Portugal') is the fourth level of the Portuguese football league system. Together with the third-tier Liga 3, it is organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The Campeonato ...

side Tourizense with whom he spent one season.

Vitória S.C.

On 13 August 2015,

side

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional association football, football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimar� ...

announced the signing of Phete from Tourizense. He made his debut for the club on 28 November in a 2–1 win over Boavista during which he was booked in the 29th minute before being substituted at half-time for Otávio. He made 12 appearances over the course of the season as Vitória ended in ninth spot on the Primeira Liga table. At the end of the season Phete was joined at the club by fellow countrymen Bongani Zungu and

Haashim Domingo Haashim Domingo (born 13 August 1995) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Cape Town City. Club career He made his professional debut in the Segunda Liga for Vitória Guimarães B on 14 February 2015 in ...

who had signed for the upcoming season. He failed to appear for the senior side in the following two seasons, however, after he was moved to the club's reserve squad, Vitória S.C. B.

Famalicão

In June 2019, Phete left Guimarães to sign for fellow Primeira Liga side Famalicão on a three-year deal.

B-SAD

On January 2020, Famalicão sent Phete on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

to Primeira Liga side

B-SAD B-SAD is a Portuguese football club from Lisbon founded on 30 June 2018 as an independent entity. A rebel offshoot of Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, they last played in the Primeira Liga, being relegated to Liga Portugal 2 for 2022–23. They ...

until the end of the 2019–20 season. On 1 August 2020, B-SAD announced the permanent signing of Phete on a two-year contract.

Al Bataeh

On July 2022, after his contract with B-SAD had expired, Phete signed for

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

side Al Bataeh.

Chaves

On 14 August 2023, Phete returned to Portugal, signing a one-year contract with Primeira Liga side Chaves.

International career

He made his international debut for South Africa on 8 October 2020 in a 1–1 draw with

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{G.D. Chaves squad 1994 births Living people South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players National First Division players UAE Pro League players Milano United F.C. players G.D. Tourizense players Vitória S.C. players Vitória S.C. B players F.C. Famalicão players Al Bataeh Club players G.D. Chaves players Sportspeople from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates South African expatriate sportspeople in Portugal South African expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates B-SAD players