John Moshoeu

South African soccer player

John "Shoes" Lesiba Moshoeu (18 December 1965 – 21 April 2015) was a South African football player who was part of the South African team that won the 1996 African Cup of Nations. He played as an attacking midfielder. Shoes, as he was best known to fans, was born in Ga Mashashane, Limpopo and grew up in Diepkloof, Soweto. He played for Blue Whales in Diepkloof. Kaizer Chiefs signed him to their reserve team.

He started his career in Diepkloof with an amateur team called Diepkloof Blue Wales and was later recruited to join Giant Blackpool playing in the OK League for R3,000. Fani Madida and Geelboy Gomma Gomma Masango joined him later at Blackpool, making up the "Triple M" combination He helped Blackpool reach the 1991 JPS Cup Final, where he ended up on the losing side against Dynamos at Ellis Park Stadium. At Blackpool, Moshoeu scored 75 goals in 175 matches.

Moshoeu chose to move to Kaizer Chiefs over Orlando Pirates for a then record fee of R250,000 after the two teams were neck and neck for his services in 1993 after having gone for trials at Wolverhampton Wanderers. His stay was short lived as he left in mid season having only played 14 games. Before joining Chiefs, he had been sidelined for six months with a broken leg.

He later signed with FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman and transferred to Turkish club Genclerbirligi after the President Ilhan Cavcav flew to Johannesburg to see him play. He also played for Kocaelispor. He joined Fenerbahce for $2 million. He won a Turkish Cup in 1996/97 while at Kocaelispor. In 2011/2012, Moshoeu scored 20 goals for Alex United in the Vodacom League. He called time on his career on 11 May 2014 when he resigned from the ABC Motsepe League club after following a fallout with the club's director, Nick Nicolaou. When asked about retirement, after he turned 40, Moshoeu said, "I'm not a cheese. I don't get mouldy with age." He was also part of the squad that travelled to France for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He represented South Africa in six major tournaments. He is the oldest player to play in national colours for South Africa. His last match was against Nigeria in Monastir, Tunisia on 31 March 2004 at the age of 38 years, one month and 13 days. Moshoeu was a car enthusiast. Between 1985 and 2003, Moshoeu owned nine cars. His first was a Toyota Corolla 1.6 while during his time at Chiefs he owned a silver Porsche Boxster and a red Mini Cooper S. Moshoeu never got married and he is the father of four children, two boys, two girls.

Moshoeu died on 21 April 2015 at the Morningside Hospital after a long battle with stomach cancer. Moshoeu was also admitted to the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital before his death. Moshoeu's funeral service was held at the Grace Bible Church in Soweto and was buried at Westpark Cemetery in Randburg on 27 April 2015.