Phil Masinga

A tribute to the fallen legend

We pay tribute to the fallen Bafana Bafana legend following his tragic passing.

On Sunday, 13 January, South Africans woke up to devastating news following the passing of former Bafana Bafana striker Philemon “Chippa” Masinga. The 49-year-old, who scored the goal which secured South Africa’s qualification for their very first World Cup appearance in France 1998, died after being hospitalised a month prior. KICK OFF’s Zola Doda pays tribute to the Bafana Bafana legend.

Having lost the 1986 Mainstay Cup final 1-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns before clinching the league title the following year, the 1988 season began with high hopes for Jomo Cosmos. Ezenkosi beefed up their attack by signing unknown striker Philemon Masinga, who joined after being recommended by club defender Samuel Gesond Vilakazi. Like Masinga, Vilakazi hailed from the North West and the two had often played against each other at school level. And when Vilakazi signed for Cosmos at the beginning of the 1988 season, he advised his new boss Jomo Sono to take a look at a lanky striker from Stilfontein in Klerksdorp. Sono agreed, and that decision changed the course of South African football forever. In April 1988, the little-known forward with rolled up shorts and skinny legs made his professional debut, coming on as a substitute against Orlando Pirates, and made an immediate impact after scoring the winner in the 1-0 victory. Even though Cosmos surrendered their 1987 league crown after finishing second behind champions Sundowns, Masinga’s seven goals in the first 16 matches of his professional career were enough to create a definite buzz over his talent. While the striker netted an unbelievable 21 goals in 32 matches during the 1989 season, it was during the 1990 season where he won his first winners’ medal in professional football: Cosmos beat AmaZulu 1-0 in the 1990 Bob Save Super Bowl final, with defender John Salter heading home the only goal of the match as Masinga ended the season with an impressive 17 goals. The 1991 season saw the arrival of speedy winger Helman Mkhalele, who hails from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, to the Cosmos family. While Mkhalele’s pace tormented defenders on the left wing, Masinga’s goal tally improved dramatically as he finished the season with a personal-best total of 27 goals in 31 matches. And the 1991 BP Top 8 showdown was arguably the best final the striker ever played in, despite ending up on the losing side. Masinga netted a hat-trick during the 4-3 defeat to Kaizer Chiefs, a match which Mkhalele rates as Masinga’s finest. “Masinga’s good attitude helped us a lot and the hat-trick he scored in the 1991 BP Top 8 final against Kaizer Chiefs is one of the best games I ever saw him play,” recalls his former teammate. “He was a thorn against a formidable team. There was huge competition between him and Fani Madida, and he was aware of it and wanted to prove to people who was the best.” Mkhalele reveals how the talented player helped with his integration into the Cosmos side, while recalling his competitive nature even in training. “My relationship with him dated way

back to 1991 when I joined Jomo Cosmos,” Mkhalele says. “He is one of the players I found there. I attended trials in December 1990 and officially joined the team a month later, and Phil was one of the players who made my adaptation easier. When you join a big team like Jomo Cosmos, you always worry about how you are going to adapt, yet Chippa made life easy. He was not someone who was intimidating when new players came in – he just told me to go out there and enjoy myself, and welcomed me with warm hands. He and other senior players made my adaptation easy. “When playing against each other at training, no team wanted to lose and the competition was very high. Chippa was always competitive and you couldn’t take the ball away from him.” Mkhalele says the tragic news of the striker’s passing came very unexpectedly. “I was not expecting him to leave so soon, even though he was not well for quite some time,” he says. “I was expecting him to recover and it came as a shock when I received the news that he had passed away.”

Two Masingas in Mamelodi

When Masinga was transferred from Cosmos to Sundowns in 1992, his cousin Bennett Masinga was already a seasoned veteran for The Brazilians. Bennett scored a remarkable 33 goals during the successful 1990 season which still remains the highest number of goals scored by a Sundowns player in a single campaign. The two cousins played together during the 1992 season, yet when a young striker by the name of Daniel Mudau returned from a loan spell at Ratanang Maholosiane, Bennett was reduced to a bit-part player. During the 1993 campaign, Phil formed a deadly partnership with Mudau as Sundowns claimed league honours, with the Masinga-Mudau combination producing a whopping 40 goals. Former Bafana Bafana coach Augasto Palacios, who coached Masinga in the national team, remembers this period fondly. “This was during the early years of Bafana Bafana and Phil was already great player,” Palacios recalls. “He served South Africa well and a lot of people can copy what he did for this country. He played in England and

Italy, and took his country to the 1998 World Cup. He was a hard worker and a good finisher. It was an honour for me to work with him at Bafana Bafana during that period. It’s sad that he died at such a young age. He was a humble person and was always committed to his country. He never turned down any call up to the national team and was always humble. We lost someone who liked football.”

Overseas switch

In July 1994, Sundowns sold Masinga to English Premiership side Leeds United for R1.56 million, with the striker joined in England by defender Lucas Radebe, who signed from Kaizer Chiefs. Masinga played the opening seven matches of the 1994/95 English Premiership season, including a 2-1 win over defending champions Manchester United. The striker’s first goal in England came during the third match at home against Chelsea, as his side secured a 3-2 win. Despite his good start, Masinga’s chances of playing diminished the following season as he was then transferred to St Gallen in Switzerland, where he teamed up with countrymen David Nyathi and Sizwe Motaung. “Phil was like a brother to me; in all our travels with the national team and in Europe, we became closer,” Nyathi says. “I knew he was ill and there were people trying to give him help, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. He was still young and there was so much he could have still contributed. “Our relationship was good, we were very close. Most of the time we spent together, be it in Switzerland or Bafana Bafana, it was all about football. I know how much Chippa loved this country. There was a time when he was going through challenges because he was not scoring goals, but all he said was: ‘I understand what people are saying, all I need is one chance to score one goal and the pressure will be off’. That was Phil for you. Most of our time together was in Switzerland, and we had a great

time together.” Nyathi describes how his former teammate then went on to make an impact further afield. “He had a great time at Leeds and was admired a lot by the people in England,” he continues. “In Italy he was a marvel to watch because Italy is one of the toughest leagues in the world. He was at Bari and Salernitana and did very well. He became adored in Italy and commanded high respect … this was one of our own.” Another South African in Switzerland over the same period was Augustine Makalakalane. Makalakalane first teamed up with Masinga at Cosmos in 1988 and the two were together when Bafana Bafana won the African Nations Cup in 1996. When Masinga joined St Gallen in 1996, Makalakalane was playing for Swiss Second Division side FC Baden. “When I was at Jomo Cosmos in 1988, he was one of the guys I was very close to,” recalls Makalakalane. “He supported me throughout my career. I came from the Vaal and we were both outsiders in Joburg because people said we came from the farms. Playing with him helped me a lot to adapt in Europe because the guys I played with were his height and did a lot of running. When he came to Switzerland, I used to invite him, Sizwe and David for dinner at my house. We had a great time together and I will always remember those fond memories.”

Bafana’s unlikely hero

While Masinga will always be regarded as a national hero for scoring the goal that sent Bafana Bafana to the 1998 World Cup, the sad truth is that the striker was often a victim of the boo boys. Just months after helping his country win the 1996 Afcon, Masinga was then called up for the first group match in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. The striker was booed throughout the match against Zaire [now DRC] at FNB Stadium, and later admitted to KICK OFF that the experience was one of the most difficult he had endured. “I was getting booed right through the match,” Masinga said years later. “Nothing I did in the face of supporters was ever good enough, but fortunately for me I had players who were playing and fighting for me.” Masinga’s single goal however helped Bafana Bafana win the match 1-0 to get their campaign off to the perfect start. The following World Cup qualifier against Zambia ended in a 0-0 draw, but it was the match against Congo-Brazzaville when Masinga said he had endured enough. “I was still getting booed and it was working on my mind,” he said. “So when we had to play Congo-Brazzaville, I refused to go to that match. I told Clive that it was not nice to come and represent the country while there were people who were busy unsettling me with their antics.” Without Masinga, Bafana lost the bruising encounter 2-0, yet the striker announced his return with a superb header in a 2-1 win over Zaire in the next qualifier. But it was the long-range strike against Congo-Brazzaville in the 14th minute at a packed FNB Stadium on that memorable August 15th afternoon in 1997 that Masinga will always be remembered for, as he smashed the ball into the roof of the net from 20 metres out to take South Africa to the World Cup. Players and fans alike were in raptures at the final whistle as they celebrated the historic feat, a memory that will serve long in the minds of South Africa supporters, and a fitting way to remember the talented striker. Rest in peace, Phil.