Teboho Aaron Mokoena (born 25 November 1980) is a South African former footballer. He is currently the assistant coach of Cape Town City.
Mokoena's professional career as a player spanned 14 seasons among football clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium, England and South Africa.
He played for South Africa at the 2000 Olympics, where they finished third in Group D. Mokoena also played at the 2002 and 2004 Africa Cup of Nations. In January 2008, Mokoena captained South Africa in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. He retained the captaincy for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup, both held in his homeland.
Mokoena was born in Boipatong. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen and Ajax, before twice being loaned out to Germinal Beerschot and then transferring to KRC Genk for two years. On 4 January 2005, aged 24 he moved to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in which he described his move as a dream.
Mokoena made his debut for Blackburn on 8 January 2005 in an FA Cup match against Cardiff City, coming on as a 43rd-minute substitute for Barry Ferguson. After this, Mark Hughes mainly utilised Mokoena as a holding midfielder. Mokoena went on to be a regular in the starting line-up for the remainder of the season, appearing 22 times in total. He was used by Hughes as the holding midfielder in a three-man midfield in a defensive 4–5–1 formation, a move which saw Blackburn concede fewer goals and move away from relegation danger.
Hughes later reverted to a 4–4–2 formation. From then on, Mokoena found himself used sparingly as a holding midfielder in his favoured 4–5–1 formation as a second-half substitute, charged with protecting leads in games in which Blackburn were winning. With Robbie Savage out injured for Rovers, Mokoena started most of the team's games in 2007 and he scored his first goal for Blackburn in an FA Cup 6th round victory against Manchester City on 11 March 2007. However, he was later sent off after getting a second yellow card. He scored his second and final Blackburn goal against Sunderland in February 2009, again this time in the FA Cup replay in Rovers' 2–1 win at Ewood Park which was also voted as goal of the season for the 2008–09 season. Mokoena played his final game for Blackburn Rovers on 24 May 2009 against West Bromwich Albion at Ewood Park in the 0–0 draw.
On 24 May 2009, Mokoena announced he would be joining fellow Premier League outfit Portsmouth on a three-year deal. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in the last minute of extra time to give them victory over Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena in the dying seconds in the FA Cup third round replay on 12 January 2010. Mokoena played a major part in the games against Coventry, Sunderland, South Coast rivals Southampton, Birmingham and Tottenham. He stated that he desired the move to secure regular football, especially in the run up to the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa his native.
Mokoena scored his first league goal in English football (having previously scored three in the FA Cup) when he netted on 58 minutes and completed the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 victory over Bristol City at Fratton Park on 28 September 2010.
On 28 October 2010, Mokoena signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal with Pompey lasting until summer 2013. He made 70 appearances and has scored three goals for Portsmouth in all competitions. On 18 June 2011, he said that he could be leaving Portsmouth because he has been very frustrated at being on the bench on a regular basis.
Following Portsmouth going into administration in February 2012 and the club's subsequent relegation into the third-tier Football League One, Mokoena was identified a potential key player to leave due to his relatively high salary. During this time Mokoena was strongly linked with a transfer to Bidvest Wits and did not show up to the first day of pre-season training. On 10 July, Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton stated that he believed Mokoena would leave Portsmouth within 24 hours.
On 12 July 2012, Mokoena agreed a contract termination with Portsmouth.
On 11 July 2012 Mokoena completed his move from Portsmouth to Bidvest Wits. On 20 July, he was officially presented at his new club.
Barely two months after making his first-team debut for Jomo Cosmos, Mokoena was selected for the South African squad for the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso by his club coach, Jomo Sono, who had just been appointed as the national team's interim coach shortly before the tournament, thus becoming the youngest South African player to be called up for an Africa Cup of Nations tournament, but he did not make any appearance in the competition as South Africa were defeated in the final by Egypt.He was also selected into that year's FIFA World Cup preliminary squad by Sono's successor, Philippe Troussier, but did not make the final 23-man squad.
Mokoena's senior debut came much later, appearing against Botswana in a COSAFA Castle Cup match in February 1999. At the time of his debut, he was 18 years, two months, and 26 days, which made him the youngest player to ever represent South Africa at the senior international level, a record he held for 15 years. From there, he went on to feature in two of South Africa's last three qualifiers for the 2000 African Cup of Nations, though he was left out of the squad for the finals after the nation qualified.He was, however, selected for the South African Under-23 squad for the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney. Mokoena played in all three group stage matches as South Africa were eliminated in the first round.
His move to Belgium proved important to his international career, as his strong club form earned him a regular place in South Africa's established defence, initially at right-back position. The year 2002 proved particularly significant for Mokoena at international level. Firstly, he finally made an appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament at the 2002 edition, featuring in all of South Africa's matches as they got knocked out in the quarter-finals by the hosts Mali.He was later selected for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where he played in all three of South Africa's group matches. The team were eliminated in the group stage after finishing third in their section.
Following the World Cup, Mokoena was reunited with his former Under-23 coach, Ephraim Mashaba, who took charge of the senior national team as South Africa began their campaign to qualify for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. Mokoena established himself as one of the team's regular defenders, forming a partnership with Orlando Pirates' defender Mbulelo Mabizela at center-back. He featured in four of South Africa's six qualifying matches as well as six friendlies and was included in the squad for the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia.In the tournament, Mokoena helped South Africa to a 2-0 victory over Benin in their opening match, before starting against Nigeria, where he conceded a penalty from which Jay Jay Okocha scored in a 4-0 defeat. He retained his place for the final group match against Morocco, but South Africa were eliminated after a 1-1 draw. Following the tournament, Mokoena and Mabizela came under criticism in a SAFA report over their involvement in the wage dispute, but were defended by veteran teammate Andre Arendse, who stated that the entire squad had supported their position during the pay negotiations.
Later that year, following Mabizela's removal as captain after he reported late for training, Mokoena was appointed permanent captain of South Africa. However, with Mokoena as captain, South Africa failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first absence from the competition since the 1994 FIFA World Cup.They nevertheless qualified for the 2006 African Cup of Nations after finishing among the top three teams in their World Cup qualifying group. Mokoena was initially involved in preparations for the tournament, but a dispute arose after coach Ted Dumitru removed him as captain and appointed Sibusiso Zuma in his place. Mokoena subsequently withdrew from the squad.