WeeklySA_AdminIcon: Legendary dribbling wizard Lucas Moripe will be remembered as a humble footballer who dazzled with his extraordinary skills…
By Monk Nkomo
While soccer fans revered him as the wizard of football, defenders hated him with a passion so much they wished he would miss the fixture each time they played against Pretoria Callies. For, they knew that his presence in the Callies line-up meant 90 minutes of torment and merciless dummying – especially for the timid defenders assigned the unenviable duty to mark him.
That was Lucas ‘’ Masterpieces’’ Moripe, the diminutive, shy and bow-legged soccer star whose dazzling skills earned him all sorts of nicknames – ‘’ Modimo wa bolo ( God of football), ‘’ Mecro’’, ‘’Soweto’’ and ‘’Ada.’’
Always reserved, Moripe was hardly engaging in long discussions. In fact, it was ironic that his best friends, who included the late joke-cracking Bantala Shigo, were extroverted and comedians who always had those in attendance in stitches with their jokes.
My first encounter with Moripe was when he was playing in the lower division for amateur soccer outfit, Huns Sporting Club, which was affiliated to the Atteridgeville-based Pretoria Bantu Football Association (PBFA) in the early 1970s. This was a star-studded outfit which boasted some of the best players in the township, under the management of the late disciplinarian and fitness fanatic, Robert Tshankie, popularly known as “Uncle”. Tshankie kept a strict routine which led to a lax Moripe seldom finding a place in the line-up.
However, Moripe’s dazzling skills would not elude the attention of two senior Pretoria Callies soccer stars – Norman ‘’ Granz’’ Nzama and Goodman ‘’ Benny Kusasa’’ Kgatle- who have since passed on. Both recruited the young teenager to join the club that was popularly known as “The Romans’’ in 1971. With the rare find, the club had struck gold.
No sooner had he donned the team’s jersey for the first time than he became the glue that Callies sorely needed upfront. With his awkward dribbling and passing skills, he always dominated play upfront like a music conductor leading his choir. Thriving on the services provided by the lanky midfielder, George “Mastermind’’ Kgobe, Moripe often rattled the defence with his defence-splitting passes to dangermen, Phillip “Cheza’’ Sibanda and Score Varri, who never gave goalkeepers a chance in rattling the net with masterly ease. In addition, Moripe’s sparkling form was complemented by his other equally talented team mates like the late Patrick “Let Them Dance’’ Molala, a perennial menace to defenders with his darting and dribbling skills which sometimes threw defenders off balance, leaving them sliding off the turf after missing a tackle.
And, who will ever forget the early 1970s when “Romans’’ would be ushered into the Atteridgeville Super Stadium, as it was known by then, by the late Martin Mantsha Dioke, wearing a traditional Tsonga outfit, and cutting a majestic figure on horseback. A “ritual” contrived to instil the fear of the gods in the hearts of the opponents before the start of the game. Invariably, Dioke’s grand entrance with the team in tow happened mostly when Callies played against Soweto’s Big Three – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Moroka Swallows – during the halcyon days of the now-defunct National Professional Soccer League.
Consequently, this prompted some of the clubs not to use the main entrance into the stadium, fearing Callies’ theatrics signified an act of witchcraft. I remember how Swallows players would opt to jump over the fence into the grounds from the eastern side of the stadium – rather than file through the “jinxed” stadium entrance, each time scheduled to play against Callies.
Notably, Moripe’s wizardry would earn him a coveted place in the NPSL Invitation X1, which played against a selected British All Stars in 1973 led by soccer star Rodney Marsh. That was the unforgettable day when Moripe, receiving the ball from the midfield, dribbled past three to four defenders from the midfield before laying the ball for one of the forwards to score. Such scintillating display would later see him recruited for a stint with Caroline Hills in Hong Kong. Loved by fans and foes alike, the mercurial midfielder was honoured for his sterling contribution to local football and the country at large when the Super Stadium was renamed after him in 2010. He was also immortalised through the naming of a local street after him.
After playing for the blue and white outfit for many years, Moripe was plagued by injuries, bringing his career to an abrupt end, a few months after joining Orlando Pirates. Long after his football career floundered, he suffered a stroke which later confined him to a wheelchair.
After being ill for so many years, “Masterpieces”, the man who mesmerized defenders with his magical talent, on Tuesday night could not dribble past his final stanza when The Lord Almighty beckoned him. He bade farewell to family, friends, relatives and soccer fans. News of his passing spread like wildfire across the townships.
Born in 1950, the man who was a closed chapter thanks to his humility, was no more. His home in Mzankomo Street, Atteridgeville, became a hive of activity as people arrived to offer their condolences to his family.
The country has lost one of its greatest stars in Lucas ‘’ Mecro’’ Moripe.
