Simphiwe Dludlu
Personal information
Full name Simphiwe Mendy Dludlu
Date of birth (1987-09-21) 21 September 1987
Place of birth Alexandra, South Africa
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team (Head Coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Phomolong Ladies
Rand Afrikaans University
Mamelodi Sundowns
University of Pretoria F.C.
International career‡
2006–2015 South Africa 63 (1)
Managerial career
University of Pretoria
Tshwane University of Technology
2017- South Africa women's national under-17 soccer team
Medal record
COSAFA Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place2022 South Africa

*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of U20 Women's national team 2006

Caps =4
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2016

Simphiwe Mendy Dludlu (born 21 September 1987) is South African professional soccer manager and former player. Dludlu has been the Head Coach of the South African women's national U/17 team since 2017. She led the team to their second FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup qualification in 2018 which was hosted in Uruguay.[1]

Early life

Dludlu attended TuksSport High School. In 2007, she began studies at University of Pretoria and graduated with a Sports Science degree in 2012.[2]

Club career

At a club level, Dludlu played as a defender for Mamelodi Sundowns.[3] In football circles, she was nicknamed "Shorty".[4]

International career

Dludlu made her first appearance for the South Africa senior national team in 2006 during a match against Mozambique.[2] She was the captain of the South African women's national team between 2009 and 2010.[3]

In May 2014, Dludlu made her 50th cap for the South Africa senior team during a friendly match against Ghana.[2] In September 2014, she was named to the roster in preparation for the 2014 African Women's Championship in Namibia.[5] She announced her retirement from international football in March 2014, aspiring to pursue a career in coaching instead. She finished her playing career for the South African team on 63 caps.[4]

Coaching career

Upon graduating from the University of Pretoria in 2012, she became coach of the university women's football team, playing in the University Sports South Africa (USSA) leagues. In her first two years with the team, they reached the final of the USSA Football National Club Championships.[4] In May 2013, Dludlu earned a UEFA B Licence coaching certificate.[6]

Alongside other former South African women's internationals, she is a scout for the Vodafone NXT Level programme.[3]She was also the coach of the Tshwane University of Technology women's high performance soccer team.

Currently, Dludlu is coaching the South African women's national U/17 team and qualified for the 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay.

In 2022, she was tasked with selecting a South Africa women's national team, the A team coached by Desiree Ellis was taking part in a series of friendly matches with Brazil and could not participate, for the 2022 COSAFA Women's Championship. Her team won a silver medal at the tournament losing out to Zambia 1-0 in the final.[7][8]

Honours

Managerial

South Africa

References

  1. ↑ "Dludlu names 21-member Bantwana squad for 2018 FIFA WC - SAFA.net". 25 October 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Mosoane, Pearl (27 May 2014). "50th Cap for Simphiwe". University of Pretoria. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Legendary women taking football to the NXT LVL". Goal.com. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Mosoane, Pearl (3 March 2015). "Dludlu Calls it Quits". AmaTuks. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Pauw Names Banyana Squad For AWC". Soccer Laduma. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Simphiwe Dludlu receives her UEFA B coaching licence". South African Football Association. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dludlu to guide Banyana Banyana to 2022 COSAFA Championships - SAFA.net". 16 August 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  8. ↑ Writer, KickOff. "Zambia pip Banyana to COSAFA crown". KickOff. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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