Desiree Ellis

South African football legend Desiree Ellis made her international debut in 1993 at the remarkable age of 30; a time normally considered a retiring point in professional football. In her first game for the South Africa national women’s football team, nicknamed Banyana Banyana (Girls Girls), against Swaziland, she even scored a hat-trick.

The following year she became captain of the side and subsequently led Banyana until her retirement in April 2002.