Kaizer Chiefs legend Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe has been compared to Ballon d’Or winner Zinedine Zidane.
The late Ntsoelengoe would’ve turned 70 on 26 February this year, leading to Amakhosi catching up with one of his former teammates to share some views on the true greatness of one of Mzansi’s finest ever players.
Chiefs founding father Ratha Mokgoatlheng was full of praise for the former attacking player, comparing him to France 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Zidane.
“Ace was a unique talent, one of the greatest artists I had the honour of playing with. In my view he was the greatest player ever to have played for Kaizer Chiefs,” Mokgoatlheng told the club’s media department.
“He had a mathematical intellect on the football field, an ability to operate a second or two above the normal good player, which made him great. He could see situations on the pitch other players could not even imagine.
“Ace was perhaps comparatively in the class of Zinedine Zidane at his peak, an unobtrusive genius, peerless and blessed with the soccer brain and vision of a Michelangelo, because he only could visualise moments and spaces and ramifications of instances other players could not even imagine, let alone dream of.
“In South Africa maybe we should retire the aphorism ‘Ace’ in naming soccer players, because only he deserves that accolade.”
Mokgoatlheng also insisted that Apartheid hindered Ntsoelengoe’s career and prevented him from a move to one of Europe’s top leagues.
“Ace could have played anywhere in the world,” he added.
“The ban on apartheid South Africa at the time curtailed his career. He could have played in England, in Italy, in Spain, but fortunately he did contribute to the growth of his career by going to the USA.
“I had the honour of Ace thinking of me as something of a good footballer.”
Ntsoelengoe passed away in 2006 at the age of 54 and would’ve turned 70 this past Saturday, 26 February. To date, he is still the club’s all-time record goalscorer, netting 240 goals in the 1970s and 1980s.
