George Nyiko Maluleka (born 7 January 1989) is a South African

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays for AmaZulu in the

South African Premier Division The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized sinc ...

Club career

Maluleka played for Kempton Park FC and

Pretoria University The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

starting out as a striker. In 2006, Maluleke was promoted to the senior side. He managed a fabulous spell with the club totaling ten goals in 28 matches. Maluleka was noticed by

Supersport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

and in 2007 he joined the club. Maluleka struggled to get game time and spent time on the bench as unused substitute. He was loaned to

. In 2009, he was loaned again to Ajax Cape Town. In 2012, Maluleka returned to the parent Supersport United. In 2014, he joined

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

, signing a three and a half-year contract. He made his Chiefs debut on 23 January 2014 in a 1–0 win over Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld. He scored his first goal in Amakhosi colours in a 2–0 win over a relegation zone-placed

Polokwane City Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the second tier National First Division. The team currently plays its home matches at the P ...

where both George Lebese and George Maluleka scored. Maluleka featured in a pre-season friendly match against

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province, having previously being based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club' ...

and he blasted home Chiefs' fourth goal in the dying seconds to win 4–2. On 26 July 2014 during the

2014 Carling Black Label Cup The 2014 Carling Black Label Cup was the fourth edition of the competition to be held. A South African beer brand Black Label started the "Be The Coach" where the fans had the opportunity to elect the starting 11 of their desired players from t ...

, Maluleka missed a penalty in 66th minute with the ball crashing onto the woodwork and missed again in the penalty shoot out with an identical copy of the penalty he took earlier and Orlando Pirates won 6–5. Maluleka scored a second half brace in the MTN8 1st leg semi-final against

Platinum Stars Platinum Stars was a South African football club based in Phokeng near Rustenburg, North West Province that played in the Premier Soccer League. The club was nicknamed ''Dikwena'', the Tswana name for ''Crocodiles''. The team's best finish in ...

, he volleyed home after Luvolwethu Mpeta poorly cleared a

Kingston Nkhatha Kingston Nkhatha (born 27 October 1985) is a Zimbabwean footballer who plays as a striker for Mbombela United in the South African National First Division and the Zimbabwe national team. Career Club Early career Nkhatha started his career i ...

header and scored a sublime free kick outside the box to win 2–0. He was voted Goal.com's Player of the Week. He curled home another free kick from 22-yards in the second leg to give Chiefs a 3–0 aggregate lead. Chiefs made it to the final winning 5–0 on aggregate.

International career

Maluleka made his debut for the senior national team on 12 November 2011 in a 1–1 draw against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maluleka, George 1989 births Living people People from Tembisa Soccer players from Gauteng South African men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders University of Pretoria F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players Cape Town Spurs F.C. players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players AmaZulu F.C. players National First Division players South African Premier Division players South Africa men's international soccer players