Patrick Ntsoelengoe

Ace Ntsoelengoe

Personal information
Full name	Patrick Pule Zolile Ntsoelengoe
Date of birth	February 26, 1952
Place of birth	Randfontein, South Africa
Date of death	May 8, 2006 (aged 54)
Place of death	Lenasia, Gauteng, South Africa
Playing position	Striker, Midfielder
Youth career
	Powerlines
1968	Mohlakeng Home Stars
1969–1970	Kaizer XI
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1971–1988	Kaizer Chiefs	542	(250)
1973	Miami Toros	9	(3)
1975	Denver Dynamos	21	(10)
1976–1981	Minnesota Kicks	155	(50)
1979–1980	Minnesota Kicks (indoor)	5	(2)
1982–1984	Toronto Blizzard	59	(23)
Total		791	(338)
National team
1977	South Africa	2	(4)
Teams managed
1985	Ace's Mates
1997	South Africa U-23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Patrick Pule "Ace" Ntsoelengoe (26 February 1952^[1] – 8 May 2006) was a South African football (soccer) player who is widely considered as one of the greatest the country has ever produced.^[2]

Early life

Ntsoelengoe was born to Daniel Ndimande and Margaret Ntsoelengoe. Ntsoelengoe did not grow up with his parents, his parents were not yet married when he was born, hence the Ntsoelengoe surname, he was raised by his grandmother. His parents eventually got married but his surname was never changed. Ntsoelengoe was a good singer . He was a close friend to Mbongeni Ngema. He was also played in tennis and used to practice at a tennis court next to his home. He was also played the organ and the guitar earning the nickname "Quincy Jones" Ntsoelengoe grew up playing soccer with other boys in the street. He later joined an amateur coloured team, Powerlines and when he moved to Mohlakeng he joined Mohlakeng Home Stars and started to gain popularity. In 1969, when Kaizer XI played Randfontein XI he impressed Kaizer XI, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows. He joined Kaizer XI at the age of 17.^[3] Ntsoelengoe's father, Daniel (born 1934), played semi-professional football with Randfontein Young Zebras. He inspired the affectionate nickname 'Ace'.^[4]

Playing career

Ntsoelengoe spent almost his entire career with Kaizer Chiefs in his home country. During the local offseason he usually played in the United States and Canada.

In total he played 11 seasons in the North American Soccer League, beginning in 1973 with the Miami Toros. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

He made his name, however, with the Minnesota Kicks and enhanced his reputation with Toronto Blizzard. A quiet man with incredible skills, it is quite remarkable that his soccer career was confined to South Africa and North America. He acquired his nickname from his father, Daniel, who was also one of South Africa's top players. While Ace spent his summers in Canada or in the United States, he returned home during the winter to play for the Kaizer Chiefs, a club with an enormous following in Johannesburg. Ace played there from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. An idol in his own country, Ace spent only one season with Miami, missed the 1974 season but returned to the NASL in 1975 to play for the Denver Dynamos.

When that franchise moved to Minnesota in 1976, he moved along with them and thus began the first of six highly successful years with the Kicks. He was acquired by Toronto Blizzard in December 1981, when the Kicks were about to fold, and became a key figure in the Blizzard's rise to become one of the top NASL teams. He played for Minnesota in Soccer Bowl 76 and for Toronto in Soccer Bowl 83 and the Soccer Bowl Series of 1984. Nominally a midfielder, he constantly pushed forward into attacking positions and often scored more goals than strikers.

Ntsoelengoe represented South Africa in 1977 versus Rhodesia.^[5]

Style of play

Former Argentinean manager Oscar Martinez to remark that the midfielder was "almost a perfect footballer. He can dribble, he can shoot, he can attack, and he can defend. He is good in the air, good on the ground and good everywhere you can think of." when the South African Invitational XI hammered an Argentina XI 5-1. Former South African national coach Clive Barker insisted the Chiefs legend was as gifted as Zinedine Zidane.^[6]

Death

"Ace" died of a heart attack on 8 May 2006 in Lenasia, just south of Johannesburg. At the time of his death he was a youth coach at Kaizer Chiefs. In tributes he was hailed as one of the best players ever produced by South Africa. One of his former coaches at Chiefs, Eddie Lewis, is quoted as saying that if he had been born 20 years later, Ace would have enjoyed the same status as Ronaldinho. This is a view shared by former Bafana Bafana coach Clive Baker, "If Ace was here now, he'd be spoken of in the same breath as Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi." ^[7]

In 2008 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Ikhamanga.^[8]

North American Soccer League Statistics

Year	Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
1973	Miami Toros	9	3	2	8
1975	Denver Dynamos	21	10	5	25
1976	Minnesota Kicks	22	6	4	16
1977	Minnesota Kicks	21	3	5	11
1978	Minnesota Kicks	29	9	8	26
1979	Minnesota Kicks	29	8	11	27
1980	Minnesota Kicks	32	13	17	43
1981	Minnesota Kicks	22	12	7	31
1982	Toronto Blizzard	32	14	12	40
1983	Toronto Blizzard	6	1	3	5
1984	Toronto Blizzard	21	8	8	24
11-Year Totals		244	87	82	256

References

1. http://www.soccerladuma.co.za/campaigns/view_player/1/21466
2. http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/greats/ace.htm#.UlRwsyDwDDc
3. m.kaizerchiefs.com/?artId=329805&i=4690&showonly=1
4. sasahof.co.za/pule__ace__ntsoelengoe.html
5. http://www.soccerladuma.co.za/news/articles/categories/south-africa/andries-maseko-a-south-african-football-legend/156038
6. sasahof.co.za/pule__ace__ntsoelengoe.html
7. "The greatest player you never saw". BBC Sport. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
8. http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/greats/ace.htm#.UlRwsyDwDDc