Luther Singh

Luther Wesley Singh (born 5 August 1997) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a forward for Portuguese club F.C. Paços de Ferreira and the South African national team.

Luther Singh
Personal information
Full name Luther Wesley Singh[1]
Date of birth (1997-08-05) 5 August 1997
Place of birth Soweto, South Africa[2]
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Braga
Youth career
2008–2015 Stars of Africa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 GAIS 36 (11)
2017– Braga B 52 (14)
2019 → Chaves (loan) 17 (2)
2019–2020 → Moreirense (loan) 21 (3)
2020- → Paços Ferreira (loan) 2 (0)
National team‡
2016– South Africa U20 8 (4)
2019- South Africa U23 2 (1)
2017– South Africa 2 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:22, 2 October 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 06:57, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

Prior to making his senior international debut in 2017, Singh represented the South African national under-20 team, with whom he won the Golden Boot award at both the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships and the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.

Club career

Early career

Singh is an academy graduate of the famed South-African-based Stars of Africa football academy which he joined at the age of 11, after being scouted by Farouk Khan.[4] Through the academy, Singh was afforded the opportunity to train in Brazil when he was 16 where he spent time with Vasco da Gama and Fluminense.[4]

GAIS

Singh's success at the Stars of Africa academy caught the attention of numerous clubs and in 2015 Swedish second-division side GAIS signed him.[4][5][6] In his first season with GAIS, Singh was employed as a winger and netted two goals in eight league appearances for the club before his season was cut short through injury.[7][8] For the 2016 campaign, he was converted into a forward and scored the first professional hat-trick of his career on 22 May in a 7-0 win over Ängelholm.[9] In July, the player confirmed that the Real Madrid B side and Swansea had previously been in contact with Khan, as his agent, over a potential transfer. GAIS rejected these advances, however, in a bid to hold on to Singh until his contract expired.[10] In August of the same year, Singh rejected a move to Serie A side Pescara, claiming better options would become available to him once he was a free-agent.[11] He ultimately made 28 appearances for the Superettan season and scored 9 goals as GAIS ended the campaign in eighth place.[12]

Braga

Following the expiration of his contract with GAIS, Singh signed for Portuguese Primeira Liga side Braga on 21 January 2017.[13] There, he teamed up with the club's reserve side who played in the LigaPro. He scored his first goal on 15 February 2017, netting the fifth in a 5–0 win over Vizela, and ultimately scored 14 goals in 52 appearances over the next season and a half.[14][15]

Loan to Chaves

In January 2019, Singh joined fellow Primeira Liga side Chaves on loan for the remainder of the season.[16] On 3 January, he made his debut for the club and was named man of the match for his performance in a 0–0 draw with Feirense.[15] He scored his first goal in his third appearance for the club, netting the winner in a 2–1 league win over Tondela.[17] He ultimately scored twice in seventeen appearances but Chaves suffered relegation at the end of the campaign.[18]

Loan to Moreirense

On 13 August 2019, he joined another Portuguese club Moreirense on a season-long loan.[19]

International career

South Africa U-20

Singh represented South Africa at the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships and scored in nation's 8-0 win over Lesotho during the group stage.[20] After winning all three of their group stage matches, South Africa progressed to the semi-final where they beat Angola 5-0, with Singh netting a hat-trick on the day.[21][22] South Africa lost in the final, however, with an assist from Singh not enough to prevent the nation going down 2-1 to Zambia.[23][24] At the conclusion of the tournament Singh was awarded the Golden Boot award for his tally of five goals throughout the competition.[23] He then represented South Africa at the 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations and scored a hat-trick in the nation's opening match against Cameroon.[25] He scored once more against Senegal before South Africa were eliminated from the competition in the semi-finals, losing out again to eventual champions Zambia. Singh's tally of four goals for the tournament, coupled with two assists earned him the Golden Boot award and a spot in the CAF Best XI.[26] In May the same year, Singh was named in South Africa's 21-man squad for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.[27]

South Africa national football team

Following his impressive performances at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, Singh was called up by interim manager Owen Da Gama to the senior national team in March 2018 for friendlies against Guinea-Bissau and Angola.[28] Though an unused substitute in South Africa's 3–1 win over the former, he made his debut for the national team on 28 March against the latter, starting in a 0–0 draw.[29] The following year he was named in Stuart Baxter's provisional squad for the 2018 COSAFA Cup before taking part in the 2019 edition where he scored his first international goals, against Botswana and Uganda respectively.[30][31]

Career statistics

Club
As of 6 June 2019 [32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 League Cup Other Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GAIS 2015 Superettan 82310000113
2016 Superettan 289100000299
Total 36114100004012
Braga 2016–17 Primeira Liga 0000000000
2017–18 Primeira Liga 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Chaves (loan) 2018–19 Primeira Liga 172000000172
Career total 53134100005714

1 Includes Svenska Cupen matches.

International
As of 4 June 2019[33]
National teamYearAppsGoals
South Africa 201710
201820
201922
Total52

International goals
Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.[33]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.2 June 2019Princess Magogo Stadium, KwaMashu, South Africa Botswana1–02–2 (4–5 p)2019 COSAFA Cup
2.4 June 2019 Uganda1–11–1 (4–2 p)

Honours

South Africa U23

Individual

Personal life

Singh is of black South African and partial Indian descent, through his Sikh grandfather, and was raised in the Noordgesig township in Soweto. His father, uncle and cousins all played football at an amateur or semi-pro level.[4]

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 9 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. Said, Nick (12 December 2016). "Is Luther Singh the next great South Africa soccer star?". Times Live. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. "Luther Singh". Stars of Africa. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  4. "Is This Africa's Next Star?". Forbes. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  5. "Real Madrid want South African teenager Luther Singh". KickOff. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. Crann, Joe (18 August 2015). "Swedish Club Snap Up Another South African". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  7. "Luther Singh on song in Sweden at GAIS". KickOff. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  8. Crann, Joe (29 February 2016). "Swedish-Based SA Starlet Missing Due To Passport Issues". KickOff. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  9. Said, Nick (24 May 2016). "Victory is Swede for SA footballer Singh". Times Live. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  10. Crann, Joe (29 September 2016). "Swansea Keen On GAIS' SA Superstar". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  11. "SA Starlet Turns Down Serie A". Soccer Laduma. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  12. Smith, Kyle (10 April 2017). "Singh: He's The Coach, The Boss Of The Team". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  13. Crann, Joe (21 January 2017). "SA Starlet Lands Portuguese Deal". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  14. "Luther Singh scores first goal for Sporting Braga B". Kick Off. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  15. "Luther Singh: Bafana Bafana winger stars in Primeira Liga debut for Grupo Desportivo de Chaves". Kick Off. 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  16. Kohler, Lorenz (3 January 2019). "SC Braga winger Luther Singh agrees six-month loan deal to secure regular first-team football". Kick Off. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  17. "SA Players Abroad wrap: Luther Singh and Lars Veldwijk amongst the goals". Kick Off. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  18. Kohler, Lorenz (20 May 2019). "Players Abroad: Dino, May, Jordan score". Kick Off. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  19. "Luther Singh reforça ataque do Moreirense" (Press release) (in Portuguese). Moreirense. 13 August 2019.
  20. "Merciless Amajita Hammer Lesotho 8-0". Soccer Laduma. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  21. "2016 COSAFA U20 Champs". COSAFA. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  22. "New young star Luther Singh scored three goals as Amajita thumped Angola 5-0 to reach the 2016 COSAFA Under-20 Championships final". Kick Off. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  23. "Zambia edge Amajita to win Under-20 COSAFA Cup". SABC. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  24. "Top 10: African wonderkids in the world today". Goal. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  25. "Amajita's Three-Goal Hero Speaks". Soccer Laduma. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  26. "Awards and Statistics". CAF. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  27. "Luther Singh eager to impress with Amajita at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in South Korea". Kick Off. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  28. "Luther Singh admits he was not surprised by his first call-up to Bafana Bafana". Kick Off. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  29. "Mahlambi, Singh start for Bafana". Supersport. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  30. "Baxter names preliminary squad for 2018 COSAFA Cup". COSAFA. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  31. "On song Singh says making AFCON selection will be a dream come true". South African Broadcasting Channel. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  32. "Luther Singh Career Stats". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  33. "Singh, Luther". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  34. https://www.safa.net/2019/11/01/notoane-announces-sa-u-23-afcon-2019-squad/
  35. https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2019/11/22/africa/u23-cup-of-nations/south-africa-u23/ghana-under-23/3177638/
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