Lucas Radebe celebrates his 51st birthday and this is a celebratory piece of the man who made a name for himself at Kaizer Chiefs and cemented his legendary status at Leeds United and Bafana Bafana during his 16-year illustrious footballing career.
Born in Diepkloof on April 12, 1969, Radebe was only a teenager when the late Patrick 'Ace' Ntsoelengoe took notice of him while playing amateur football in the dusty streets of Soweto, and Amakhosi legend told club boss Kaizer Motaung of this rare talent and how the pair began to track the then-teenager.
Interestingly, in one of the matches Motaung and Ntsoelengoe attended, Radebe played as a goalkeeper for a short period and saved two penalties but his favourite position had always been the centre-back role.
At the time, Radebe had to beg his parents to allow him to play for one of South Africa's biggest teams - Amakhosi - but they needed him to focus on his studies instead of playing football.
It was after an agreement was reached between Radebe's parents and Chiefs that the lanky defender was allowed to realise his dream of playing professionally in 1989 - exactly 31 years ago.
But prior to that, Radebe suffered a nasty injury to his face and jaws while playing for amateur side ICL Birds in a Castle Cup semi-final and had to rely on fluid food for a week - but the biggest achievement for him was seeing his side reach the final which he didn't get to be a part of.
He became part of one of the most successful generations of Chiefs' teams in the early 1990s, and the national selectors were keeping an eye on him as apartheid was ending and talk of South Africa being re-admitted back to the international stage was a hot topic.
Radebe was in top form as a young defender but his progress was hampered when he was shot in the thigh while doing shopping for his family in 1991.
Fortunately, the bullet missed organs that would have prevented him from continuing playing although he needed surgery to overcome the injury.
As a high-profile team in South Africa, Chiefs played Crystal Palace in a friendly in 1992, and Radebe was back in action - and this match was seen as an opportunity for some of the local players to market themselves and earn big moves to Europe.
Chiefs would again organise prestigious friendly matches against Manchester United and Arsenal in 1993 and Liverpool in 1994 which helped Radebe to eventually seal a move to Leeds United.
The centre-back had already cemented his place in the Bafana Bafana team - his debut came against Cameroon in that first international match at Kings Park Stadium in 1992.
European scouts were following Radebe's career and some took time to make a move for his signature - but there was Geoff Sleight; a scout at Leeds United at the time, who had seen enough of the lanky defender to recommend him to manager Howard Wilkinson.
Radebe would join the English side alongside the late Philemon Masinga in 1994, and he was already a legend in the eyes of millions of Amakhosi faithful.
He struggled to adapt to life in England in his first few months there and his debut against Mansfield in the Coca-Cola Cup was a nightmare as Leeds United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to a then third-tier team on September 21, 1994.
Radebe's countryman and friend, Masinga was in the starting line-up but he was unable to help Leeds United score and win the match on the day.
At the time, Radebe was played out of position but had to work hard to be played as a centre-back, and that chance came against Coventry City.
However, he couldn't finish that match as he had to be stretchered off the pitch with ruptured ligaments on his knee and not many people believed he would ever play football again. Leeds United even considered letting him go at one stage, but Radebe was a fighter and his remarkable recovery twisted the arm of the technical team - and he was thrown back into the starting lineup toward the end of 1995 - just weeks before the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.
He badly wanted to be part of history, and this was evident enough in the few cameo appearances Radebe made under Wilkinson and Clive Barker decided he couldn't leave him out of his squad for the tournament itself despite having just returned from the knee injury.
Leeds United were not happy with Barker's decision and thought it was a bad idea for Radebe to be included in the Bafana Bafana squad.
It took a meeting between Barker and Wilkinson for Radebe to be allowed to join his national teammates for the camp.
Bafana would be crowned champions of Africa at the end of the tournament with Radebe returning to Yorkshire with a gold Afcon medal.
The defender had earned his stripes and everyone started giving him the respect he deserved, but a great gesture from Radebe in a match against Manchester United is what made Leeds United fans fall in love with him more.
Goalkeeper Mark Beeney was sent off in that match, and with no reserve goalkeeper on the bench for Leeds, Radebe put on the gloves and played a keeper - making some brilliant saves to deny the likes of Ryan Giggs and Andy Cole - remember, this wasn't a new position for Radebe as he did the same as an amateur in the late 1980s.
But he was unable to stop Roy Keane from scoring in a match that Leeds United narrowly lost after 90 minutes.
Radebe would go on to captain Bafana Bafana at the 1998 and 2002 Fifa World Cup finals in France and Korea and Japan respectively, and at the time, he was already a respected footballer, and it took him three reserve appearances for Leeds to earn a place in the 2002 Fifa World Cup squads.
This was after a horrific injury against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals with Rio Ferdinand as his partner in the heart of Leeds United's defence.
But he was not to be deterred as he tirelessly worked on returning to the pitch and he did, only to suffer another injury setback against Wolverhampton in the twilight of his career - the injury that would lead to his retirement in 2005.
He brought his 16-year football career to an end having made a total of 235 matches in Europe, including eight Champions League matches and 17 Uefa Cup matches with two goals to his name.
Radebe made 70 appearances for Bafana Bafana and also scored two goals for his country.
The football icon was so loved in Leeds that in 2008, two University friends, Michael Brothwell and Sam Moss set up a Brewery in Holbeck and named their produced beer 'Radebeer' after Radebe.
Several fans who watched Radebe play for Leeds also named their kids after this South African football icon.
Happy birthday Lucas 'Rhoo' Radebe!