Portia Modise

Portia Modise (born 20 June 1983) is a South African footballer who was named Player of the Championship at the 2006 Women's African Football Championship. She represented the South Africa national team at the 2012 London Olympics. She became the first African player to score 100 international goals.

Club career

Modise was born in Soweto (Meadowlands) and started playing football with the boys in her neighbourhood. She chose football ahead of netball at school, and began playing with Soweto Rangers at under-10 level. After playing for Rangers and the women's section of Jomo Cosmos, Modise moved to Soweto Ladies in 1996.

Comfortable in either a midfield or forward role, Modise was nicknamed "Bashin" after the male footballer Albert "Bashin" Mahlangu. In the 2001–02 regular season, Modise scored 51 goals for Soweto Ladies,

In 2003 Modise was invited to trials with Arsenal Ladies. A dispute over sponsorship and funding left Modise and compatriots Toni Carelse and Veronica Phewa unable to sign for the English club despite impressing manager Vic Akers during the trials.

In 2005–06 Modise was employed by Orlando Pirates as an academy coach. She left after seven months in February 2006 following a disagreement with her boss Augusto Palacios.

In June 2007 Modise signed a two-year deal with Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark's Elitedivisionen, after impressing during an initial one-month contract. In South Africa she represented Orlando Pirates, Jomo Cosmos F.C. and Palace Super Falcons.

In 2009, she signed a six-month contract at Palace Super Falcons in South Africa. In 2012, she also played there.

She wasn't part of the initial training camp for the 2014 African Women's Championship squad, because she was playing 'under the radar' outside of South Africa, in deed for a men's team. After the new coach was made aware of her, she switched clubs and played for Croesus Ladies back in South Africa.

National team career Modise was captain of the South Africa under-19 national team (Basetsane Basetsane) when she was called into the senior squad (Banyana Banyana).

In 2005, Modise was one of two African footballers, alongside Perpetua Nkwocha, to be nominated for the Women's FIFA World Player of the Year, which was won by Birgit Prinz.

At the 2006 Women's African Football Championship, she scored a goal in the third place final playing for South Africa against Cameroon, and was named Player of the Championship. She was also voted in the top three for the 2006 CAF Women's Footballer of the Year award, and was selected to play for the All-Stars squad in the match preceding the official draw for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

In November 2008 Modise announced she would no longer play for South Africa, after a breakdown in her working relationship with coach August Makalakalane. She was recalled in April 2012 by new national coach Joseph Mkhonza, after Makalakalane had been sacked amidst allegations of sexual harassment and homophobia.

Modise had 71 goals in 92 international caps heading into the 2012 Olympic football tournament. In South Africa's first match at the games, a 4–1 defeat to Sweden in Coventry, Modise scored a goal from inside the centre circle. FIFA.com reported that the "stunning" goal was acclaimed by the entire stadium, including the Swedish supporters.

October 2012 saw Modise named in the South African squad for the 2012 African Women's Championship. It was reported that she could reach her milestone 100th appearance during the tournament, should Banyana Banyana reach the semi-finals. Modise played a key role in South Africa's run to the final, where they were beaten by Equatorial Guinea.

In October 2014 Portia Modise became the first African player to reach the elusive 100-goal barrier in international football, when she scored her 99th and 100th goal in South Africa's 5–1 victory against Algeria at the CAF African Women's Championship.

On 19 May 2015, she announced her retirement from international football, after playing 124 matches and scoring 101 goals for South Africa. As captain of the national team Modise publicly rejected the proposals and made an outspoken attack on the committee: "We need sponsors but all the committee does is raise less important issues because they have failed to transform the sport."

During the dispute with Ledwaba, Modise had declined to reveal her own sexual orientation: "My private life is my business."

Controversy After a 0–0 draw with Nigeria that meant South Africa failed to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Modise accused South Africa coach Desiree Ellis of favouring Coloureds in her squad selections simply because Ellis herself is Coloured, claiming that Coloureds "can't jam". These comments were widely criticised as racist and inaccurate. In reality, 10 of the 11 players in the starting 11 for the match were Black, with the one exception being Coloured goalkeeper Kaylin Swart who kept a clean sheet during the match.