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Nothando Vilakazi

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Nothando Vilakazi
Vilakazi at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-10-28) 28 October 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Middelburg, South Africa
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Logroño
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Moroka Swallows
Palace Super Falcons
2019 Gintra Universitetas 3 (3)
2020–2021 Logroño 6 (0)
International career
2007– South Africa 133[1] (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 June 2021

Nothando "Vivo" Vilakazi (born 28 October 1988) is a South African soccer player who plays as a defender for Spanish Primera División club EdF Logroño and the South Africa women's national team.

Early life

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Nothando Vilakazi was born in Middelburg, South Africa, on 28 October 1988.[2] She played for a boys team between the ages of 9 and 14, when she started playing with girls.[3] At the age of 17, she started playing in the Sasol League for the Highlanders team.[3] She completed her schooling at TuksSport High School, associated with the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre, for which she was selected while representing Mpumalanga at a tournament.[4]

Career

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Vilakazi played for Palace Super Falcons, having previously played for Moroka Swallows. In footballing circles, she is nicknamed "Vivo".[2]

International

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She made her international debut for the South Africa women's national football team against Ghana in 2007.[2] Vilakazi has been a regular feature of the team as they were managed by Vera Pauw.[5] Vilakazi was part of the team which were runners up in the 2012 African Women's Championship.[2]

As part of the South African team, she has played at both the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[6] She played in all six of South Africa's games at the 2016 tournament.[2] Vilakazi has continued to feature in the squads for the nation following the transition to the management of Desiree Ellis after the Olympics.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "50 caps up for Banyana Banyana's Andile Dlamini". safa.net. 3 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Nothando "Vivo" Vilakazi". Sasol in Sport. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Banyana Banyana's Nothando Vilakazi reaches for the stars". SAFA.net. 22 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Nothando Vilakazi's rocky road to stardom". New Frame. 8 November 2019.
  5. ^ Ngid, Njabuto (28 July 2016). "She dreamt it, she's living it". IOL. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  6. ^ Isaacson, David (5 August 2016). "Banyana Banyana keep hope alive after Games opener loss". Herald Live. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Desire Ellis opens up after first training session as Banyana Banyana head coach". KickOff. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
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