Nikolaos Kirkinis – författare

Junior is sure that this is the last car ride of his life. His tear-stained cheeks shine in the morning sun through the car window. He sniffs heavily and thinks about his mother, he wonders if she will ever find out what happened to him. The car stops. Junior reaches for the handle but a firm hand on his shoulder tells him to stop.’ Daveyton-born Junior Khanye always dreamt of making it big in football. Scouted to Kaizer Chiefs at just 17, his dream seemed within reach. With his dribbling and goal scoring prowess, Junior was the darling of the nation. But then his self-destructive behaviour sees him kicked off­ the team … Trying to pick himself up, Junior cycled between poverty and prosperity, sometimes getting it right, but often deeply disappointing those who loved him most. This book, with its wealth of stories from both on and of­ the pitch, tells of the making of a soccer sensation. Junior shares his experience of poverty, the death of his brother, soccer stardom, alcoholism, the murder of his father, and raising children, with great honesty. Much more than a sports biography, Ghetto Ninja is Junior Khanye’s tragic, yet triumphant story. It is impossible to put down.

Teko 'the General' Modise is one of the best footballers South Africa has ever produced. But life wasn't always kind. At eight years old, Teko was kicked out of his home for the very thing that would catapult him to stardom – football. After a series of contractual battles that saw him passed from team to team in Limpopo, he got his big break when he was signed to SuperSport United, a premier-league team. At the height of his career he played for the Orlando Pirates, becoming the superstar of South African football. His downward spiral came when he went through a messy and public divorce and developed a nasty drinking habit. It was at this stage that Teko was approached by a powerful medicine man, a king from the Congo. This story tells it all, from poverty to fame, from love to divorce. It is the story of a fatherless father trying to make sense of parenthood and a man who never had money trying to make sense of an abundance of wealth and the evils it brings, all the while maintaining his status as the greatest South African footballer of the modern era.