{"id":49920,"date":"2023-02-20T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T14:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=49920"},"modified":"2023-02-20T16:59:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T14:59:27","slug":"5-most-successful-south-african-footballers-to-play-in-the-english-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/football\/5-most-successful-south-african-footballers-to-play-in-the-english-premier-league\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Most Successful South African Footballers To Play In The English Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football is a popularly relished sport in South Africa, and for a good reason. From the early days of Patrick Ntsoelengoe to those of Benni McCarthy, football has always been a hotly followed game in the nation.<\/p>\n

Of course, some South African football fans have gone to profit from their football affection, staking on top football fixtures on elite sites like Betway (accessible after you download betway mobile app<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Interestingly, some notable South Africans have played extensively in the biggest football leagues globally. Specifically, this article discusses five of the most successful South African footballers to play in the English Premier League.<\/p>\n

Quinton Fortune<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Quinton Fortune was widely considered a trusted servant of Sir Alex Ferguson. The South African international footballer played for Manchester United between 1999 and 2006.<\/p>\n

He made 125 appearances and scored five goals across all competitions.<\/p>\n

At Manchester United, Fortune mainly played as a squad and utility player. His excellent link-up play and hard pressing style made him perfect for different positions, including left back, right back, and midfielder.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in his debut season with the red devils, Fortune helped the team to a historic treble of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and FA Cup titles. He made 17 caps throughout the season, with five starts.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the South African star was a vital part of the squad that hauled Man United to win the 2003\/04 Premier League title. In addition, Fortune won the FA Cup in 2004 and the League Cup in 2006 with the club.<\/p>\n

After 125 appearances and five goals for Man United, Fortune left the club in 2006. Afterward, he played for Bolton Wanderers and then Doncaster Rovers before retiring.<\/p>\n

Steven Pienaar<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the 2013\/14 Premier League season, Steven Pienaar helped Everton to finish in fifth place.<\/p>\n

The South African midfielder, who had re-joined the Toffees from Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the season, made an impressive 34 appearances in the league. He scored twice and assisted six goals.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his ability to retain possession and create chances was crucial to Everton, who relied heavily on his influence in midfield. Also, he completed 1.2 interceptions per match, proving his ability to read the game and break up attacks.<\/p>\n

In addition, Pienaar helped Everton reach the last 16 of the 2013\/14 UEFA Europa League after scoring the winning goal against Swiss side Young Boys in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n

His ability to read the game and break up opposition plays was invaluable to Everton’s success in the competition, and he was voted Everton’s Player of the Year in 2013\/14.<\/p>\n

Lucas Radebe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lucas Radebe was a South African professional footballer. He played for the English club side, Leeds United, between 1994 and 2004. Radebe was reputed for his extraordinary leadership, formidable tackling abilities and effective work rate.<\/p>\n

In addition, Redebe was named the Leeds United Players\u2019 Player of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998 consecutively. Also, he was included in the PFA Team of the Year in 1998.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Radebe was also named to the Premier League Team of the Decade in 2003. He was inducted into the Leeds United Hall of Fame in 2008.<\/p>\n

Radebe made 208 appearances in the Premier League for Leeds United, scoring ten goals.<\/p>\n

He helped Leeds United to finish fourth in the Premier League in the 1999\/2000 season. The following year, he helped the team to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.<\/p>\n

Mark Fish<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 1996, the S\/A defender Mark Fish turned down an offer to play with the Premier League club Manchester United due to undisclosed personal reasons.<\/p>\n

Instead, he joined Bolton Wanderers in 1998, where he impressively helped the club in their promotion to Premier League after a brief relegation.<\/p>\n

At Bolton, Fish was famous for his remarkable versatility, incredible strength, and aerial ability as a defender and midfielder.<\/p>\n

This helped him attract many suitor clubs. In 2000, for a record fee of \u00a3700,000, Fish progressed to another English football club, Charlton Athletic, where he played for five seasons, from 2000 to 2005.<\/p>\n

In addition, the defender played a key role in Charlton’s 2000\/2001 season, where they finished in the top half of the table and qualified for the UEFA Cup. He left the club in 2005 after making 102 appearances.<\/p>\n

Benni McCarthy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Benni McCarthy is a South African-born footballer who won the Champions league title. The star striker played for Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United.<\/p>\n

He made a combined 95 premier league appearances for the two clubs scoring a total of 25 goals.<\/p>\n

In addition, McCarthy outscored the likes of Christiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in his premier league debut in 2006. He scored 18 goals in 36 appearances, only surpassed by the Chelsea star, Didier Drogba.<\/p>\n

In 2011, McCarthy joined West Ham United from Blackburn. He scored 10 goals across all competitions in his 49 appearances for the club.<\/p>\n

After two years with West Ham, McCarthy left England and returned to South Africa, where he played for different domestic league clubs.<\/p>\n

He retired from professional football in 2017 and picked up a career in football club management. He currently serves as the assistant manager of the South African Premier Division side AmaZulu.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

From the incredible shooting prowess of McCarthy to the solid defensive style of Mark Fish, the footballing brilliance of African athletes continues to baffle the world.<\/p>\n

Apart from South Africans, many athletes from other African nations dominated their various fields during their era. With time, Africa would become the home of world-class players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Football is a popularly relished sport in South Africa, and for a good reason. From the early days of Patrick Ntsoelengoe to those of Benni McCarthy, football has always been a hotly followed game in the nation. Of course, some South African football fans have gone to profit from their football affection, staking on top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4098,1194,1196,1195,1197],"class_list":["post-49920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-benni-mccarthy","tag-lucas-radebe","tag-mark-fish","tag-quinton-fortune","tag-steven-pienaar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}