Ria Ledwaba pays tribute to soccer legend Teko Modise

South African Football Association (Safa) Vice President, Ria Ledwaba has paid tribute to Teko Modise who recently retired from professional football. Modise started his professional soccer career in Seshego and was a key player at Ria Stars Football Club, of which Ledwaba was the owner, during the 2001/02 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season.
The former Bafana Bafana midfielder announced his retirement from soccer last week after his team, Cape Town City, were defeated by Black Leopards Football Club at Thohoyandou stadium.
Ledwaba described Modise as a natural talent and disciplined player. “We discovered Teko in Soweto when he was just 14 years old. Not a lot of teams knew about Teko. At that time we had April Styles Phumo, one of the best coaches this country has ever had, on the team. He really believed that Teko would go far in football even though he was not a regular in the team.
We saw him grow and he later played for Tzaneen based Polokwane City Pillars. I believe he still has four years to play in his career because of where he is now and I also feel he missed an opportunity to play in Europe,” Ledwaba said.
“He was one of the players that never struggled on the field of play, his was a natural talent. I listened to him speak after he left Mamelodi Sundowns and I felt very proud that this was a player that started his career at Ria Stars. I have always seen his discipline when he was at Ria Stars and he was never on the wrong side.”
Modise (36) has 66 international caps and has won PSL titles with Supersport United, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.

Story: Herbert Rachuene
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