Nelson Mandela had just been released from prison in 1991 and was the New President of South Africa after the collapse of Apartheid, there was still a lot of tension among South Africans of different races about the future of the country hung in a balance. Nelson Mandela saw an opportunity to unite the country through sports so as to move forward would seek the cooperation and assistance of Francois and his Teammates of the Springboks. Some thought it was a gamble but it paid off. The whole nation united behind Pienaar and his boys and they not only united a nation but won the Rugby World Cup bringing Joy and having the streets of Johannesburg and other major South African cities explode into celebrations.
Not to lose sight of his athletic accomplishments Pienaar played Flanker for the Springbok and he was born to a working class Afrikaner family. He would make his way to college with an Athletic scholarship at Rand Afrikaans University scholarship where he studied Law.
Pienaar would play for Transvaal Province and in 1993 they would win the Currie Cup the Lions Cup and the Super 10 Cup and in 94 would repeat a win of the Currie Cup and Piernaar would be named the World Rugby Player of the year.
No. 11 Abedi Ayew’ Pele’ Country:
Ghana Sport: Football/Soccer
Born in the little village of Oko, just out of Accra Abedi Ayew was dubbed Pele for his dominance on the pitch akin to the Brazilian Legend ‘Pele’.
For a country like Ghana that has a rich soccer history and as accomplished as that nation is on the soccer pitch, Abedi Pele is considered its greatest Soccer Player of all time and he was also selected as one of the world’s top 125 greatest living foot- ballers back in 2004. He has several other awards that put him solidly at this spot of the 10th best Greatest African Athletes ever.
His career is not without its own pitfalls but the man’s tenacity and perseverance kept him going as he was turned down or sometimes out rightly ignored by teams like Kotoko and Hearts of Oaks. Abedi will eventually make his European debut in France with Chamois Niort He would end up later at Olympique Marseille and would also play for many other clubs in Europe and the Middle east and won quite a number of awards among which was the ‘African Footballer of the Year’ in 1991, 1992 and 1993. With over 73 appearances for his national side with the Black Stars. Abedi would captain his national team from 1992-98. He is retired now but he is as ever present in Ghanaian football as he could ever be with his two sons Ibrahim and Andre both recently selected to the National side that took part in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
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