Jacob Lekgetho
Personal information
Full name Jacob Bobo Lekgetho
Date of birth (1974-03-24)24 March 1974
Place of birth Soweto, South Africa
Date of death 9 September 2008(2008-09-09) (aged 34)
Place of death Johannesburg, South Africa
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 Moroka Swallows 144 (10)
2001–2005 Lokomotiv Moscow 76 (3)
International career
2000–2004 South Africa 25 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jacob Bobo Lekgetho (24 March 1974 – 9 September 2008) was a South African footballer who played as a left back during the 1990s and 2000s

Career

Lekgetho was born in the Moletsane area of Soweto and began playing professionally with Moroka Swallows FC in 1995. He went on to make 155 appearances for the club before leaving for Russia's FC Lokomotiv Moscow in 2001. He helped the club win the league title in 2002, but returned to South Africa in 2004 following the death of his wife.[1]

He was capped 25 times for the South African national team, making his international debut in a 1–0 win over Malta in May 2000 and playing his last match for Bafana Bafana in a 0-3 World Cup Qualifying defeat to Ghana in Kumasi on 20 June 2004. He was a member of the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan where he came on as a substitute in the 2–3 defeat to Spain.

Honors

Death

Hoax

On 19 February 2007, Russian web-based news source Rusfootball and Russian edition of the UEFA website reported that Lekgetho had been killed in a car accident in Cape Town.[2][3] Other media such as gazeta.ru,[4] Sport-Express,[5] and Regnum[6] picked up the story. On 20 February, Rusfootball published the refutation, confirming that the information was false.[2]

Actual death

In September 2008, it was confirmed by various South African sources that Lekgetho had died in Johannesburg, aged 34, after a lengthy battle with an undisclosed illness.[7][8][9] According to Sport-Express the illness was AIDS.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Jacob Lekgetho". BBC. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Rusfootball apologizes for the erroneous information on Lekgetho's death". 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  3. ^ "Jacob Lekgetho dies" (in Russian). UEFA. 19 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  4. ^ "Jacob Lekgetho dies" (in Russian). gazeta.ru. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  5. ^ "Jacob Lekgetho killed in car accident" (in Russian). Sport-Express. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  6. ^ "Former Lokomotiv player Jacob Lekgetho killed in road accident" (in Russian). Regnum. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=19&art_id=nw20080909192905706C443975&set_id= Former Bafana player dies
  8. ^ "Football 365 - Breaking African News". Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008. Former Bafana star passes away
  9. ^ "Kick off - South Africa". Archived from the original on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008. Jacob Lekgetho dies
  10. ^ http://news.sport-express.ru/online/ntext/25/nl258556.html (In Russian) He became one of Russia's own

External links

South Africa squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup
South Africa squad – 2004 African Cup of Nations
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