South African Thato Ntsoelengoe has been brought to tears many times since the death of her husband, Patrick Ace Ntsoelengoe, one of her nation’s true soccer legends dubbed by the BBC as “the greatest soccer player in the world that you never knew.”
On Tuesday night, after receiving a call from the United States World Cup team, she began to cry again. But this time they were tears of joy.
The call came from an official at the United States Soccer Federation who had invited Thato to Wednesday’s big Group C clash against Algeria.
“I’m over the moon right now and so excited to be their guest at the game,” she said. “It is great to know that some people are remembering Patrick in this way.”
Thato operates the Patrick Ace Ntsoelengoe Foundation (PANF), a charitable organization that runs 44 youth teams near the community of Mogale City, South Africa.
She has plans to establish a museum in Ace’s memory and even has hopes to bring one of her squads to North America for a youth tournament. But for now these remain unaccomplished dreams.
While poverty, crime, homelessness and the spread of HIV remain urgent problems that have crippled the People’s Republic, Ntsoelengoe’s group hopes to provide a great escape to the nation’s children through the sport of soccer.
The recent global recession hasn’t helped already trying financial stuggles in her home land and it has slowed the efforts of the PANF.
“We get a lot of talk but very little action from people,” said Ntsoelengoe, who wants to fund more teams and grow her organization.
Former New York Cosmos president Clive Toye, the man responsible for bringing Brazilian legend Pele to North America, brought Thato’s story to the attention of USSF officials.
Toye is just one of the many who can’t forget Ace, even though it has been more than a quarter of a century since Patrick amazed fans and opponents with his speed and agility.
Ntsoelengoe was a star midfielder with one of South Africa’s most famous team’s, The Kaizer Chiefs. But due to the brutal reign of apartheid, top players of the era were banned from playing in Europe.
That did not prevent Ntsoelengoe from becoming well known in the United States and Canada during the 1970s and 80s when he was a two-time all-star in the North American Soccer League.
“He used to get bigger cheers than most of the high priced stars from Europe,” remembered Toye, who was also president of the Toronto Blizzard where Ntsoelengoe played between 1982 and 1984.
He would team up with Juventus legend Roberto Bettega in Toronto pushing the Blizzard to two consecutive appearances in the league championship Soccer Bowl in 1983 and 1984.
But tragically the player turned coach was found dead in his car on May 8, 2006 after a training session with a Kaizer Chiefs youth team.
The cause of death was listed as a heart attack.
The news created headlines across South Africa when it became known that one of the nation’s symbols of defiance to the Apartheid regime had fallen.
During the Apartheid regime, Ntsoelengoe and other South African stars like Jomo Sono, one of his teammates in Toronto, had helped pass messages for Nelson Mandela and the resistance movement across provincial borders where most blacks were prohibited from travelling.
Soccer players like Ntsoelengoe were entrusted with the task of carrying vital messages hidden in their shoes, socks and gym bags.
Thato hopes that Ace’s story will help others become involved with the PANF and Ace’s love and knowledge of the game can be spread to a new generation of soccer players around the world.
“I have hope and believe that one day with God’s will the PANF projects will succeed, in the same way as the World Cup was a dream come true for South Africa.”
