Lucas Radebe

Lucas Radebe

Lucas Valeriu Radebe (born 12 April 1969) is a former Leeds United and South African football player. During his career, Radebe was renowned for being a world-class centre back and a great ambassador for the sport.

He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, following this he moved to Premiership side Leeds United and over the course of several years firmly established himself as a club legend, retiring after having played 200 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at the aforementioned clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief" respectively, the latter of which was given to him by former Leeds manager David O'Leary..

Recognised as South Africa's first international soccer star, he captained not only Leeds United but South Africa, most notably at World Cup 2002 where he scored his only World Cup goal. Nelson Mandela famously said of Radebe; "This is my hero."