![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Africa-XI-696x387.jpg\" "\\"Africa")
<\/div>\nTo celebrate 30 years of the English Premier League, SuperSport has been running the\u00a0Premier League 30 Africa XI\u00a0campaign to celebrate the best African players to have plied their trade in England\u2019s top flight. On 29 June, campaign ambassador, Bafana Bafana and Leeds United legend, Lucas Radebe was in conversation with SuperSport\u2019s Lwazi Ziqubu at MultiChoice City to discuss his involvement in the\u00a0initiative, which was streamed to an audience of Africa\u2019s biggest media houses.<\/p>\n
In a campaign that Radebe described as a \u201cjoy and honour\u201d to be a part of, fans have had an opportunity to vote for 11 of their favourite African players, from a pool of 30.<\/p>\n
In an hour-long conversation, the former Leeds captain spoke fondly of his time at Elland Road and the significance of the contributions of the first cohort of African players to play in the world\u2019s best league. He was quick to recognize the contributions of those who came before him like Albert Johanneson, who also played for Leeds United<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe African players came with something different in the way we play, especially with our body structure, compared to what we were used to. As Africans, we always looked back at where we come from. The surname on our backs meant a lot rather than the game itself that elevated the Premier League,\u201d said Radebe.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Chief\u2019, as he\u2019s commonly known, acknowledged the pressure of representing not only one\u2019s country, but also the continent. This pressure was something that he and his contemporaries Tony Yeboah<\/strong> and Jay Jay Okocha faced. He however affirmed that their desire to succeed at the top helped them overcome that pressure and any other challenge.<\/p>\n During his playing career and even after retirement, he and his African compatriots developed a sense of community. What was most important to them was the legacy they created to contribute to football in their respective countries of birth.<\/p>\n Friends they might have grown to become but he was not shy to admit to the difficulty of facing fellow Africans such as Nigeria\u2019s Nwankwo Kanu and Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Of the later generation, he wished to have been pitted against the trio of Salah, Mane and Drogba as they would have, in his words, raised his game.<\/p>\n With Burnley\u2019s Lyle Foster being the sole South African player in this upcoming Premier League season, Rhoo believed professionalism was what would bring back the good days when a handful of Mzansi\u2019s finest graced the English shores. \u201cThe talent is there \u2013 we\u2019re not far off. If we can invest more in the element of professionalism away from the game, it would be brilliant,\u201d Radebe concluded.<\/p>\n The media conference was a precursor for another media event in Accra before the Gala Dinner in Lagos. There, the EPL Africa XI, voted by the fans, will be revealed in a glitzy evening befitting of Africa\u2019s EPL Kings.<\/p>\n With the campaign wrapped up and the countdown to the 2023-24\u00a0Premier League\u00a0having already begun, SuperSport viewers on DStv and GOtv can look forward to enjoying nothing but the best of football entertainment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n