Bafana-Bafana Phil Masinga Dies at Age 49
Legendary former Bafana Bafana striker Phil Masinga has passed away at the age of 49 after a short illness.
The ex-Leeds United player was admitted to hospital in December, after falling to an undisclosed illness.
During his playing career, he earned 58 caps for the South African national team, scoring 18 times and retired as the country’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
Masinga started out his youth career at Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, he made his professional debut for Jomo Cosmos, but it was at Mamelodi Sundowns where he made his mark – attracting interest from Europe in the form of Leeds United.
His stay in England was a short one, and was followed by an even shorter one in Switzerland, before moving to Italy, where he turned out for Salernitana and later Bari.
Masinga was most famous for his long-range strike against Congo at FNB Stadium in 1997, which secured South Africa qualification to its very first Fifa World Cup finals in France the following year.
