Katleho Makateng (born 20 September 1998) is a

Mosotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays for

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

Richards Bay Richards Bay ( af, Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which makes it one of the country's largest harbours. Richards Bay also has the deepest natural ha ...

and the Lesotho national team.

Club career

Makateng began his career with local Pitseng side Litšilo FC of the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He signed for a club in the

Lesotho Premier League The Lesotho Premier League also known as Econet Premier League is the top football division in Lesotho and was created in 1970. Econet Telecom Lesotho are the current league sponsor, since 2017/2018 season. Vodacom Lesotho were the previous leagu ...

for the first time before the 2020–22 season, joining

Lesotho Defence Force FC Lesotho Defence Force FC is a Lesotho football club based in Maseru. It is based in the city of Maseru in the Maseru District Maseru is a district of Lesotho. Maseru is also the name of the district's capital, and is the only city in the distric ...

. During his first season in the league, following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, he scored 20 goals to win the golden boot award and break the previous single-season goal record of 18 held by Mojela Letsie and Motebang Sera. Following the season, he then received the Players’ Player of the Year, Young Player of the Season, and Player of the Season awards at the annual league award ceremony, in additional to the top scorer award. In July 2022 it was reported that Makateng was a transfer target of newly-promoted Richards Bay F.C. and

Kaizer Chiefs F.C. 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 "Ch ...

of the

. Later that month Richards Bay officially announced his signing. He reportedly joined the club on a two-year deal after Lesotho Defense Force reached an agreement on a transfer fee. After missing the opening match of the season while his paperwork was finalized, Makteng made his league debut and played the first seventy minutes of a 0–0 draw with Marumo Gallants F.C. on matchday two.

International career

Makateng was part of Lesotho's under-20 squad that made it to the final of the

2017 COSAFA U-20 Cup The Mopani Copper Mines COSAFA Under-20 Championship will be the 24th edition of the COSAFA U20 Cup, an international youth competition open to national associations of the COSAFA region. The competition is open to players born on or before 1 J ...

before ultimately falling to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He made his senior international debut on 8 March 2022 in a warm-up friendly against

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

as part of preparation for

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches will be organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the 34th edition of the international men's football champi ...

. He went on to appear in both of Lesotho's Preliminary Round matches against the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

and scored his first two senior international goals in the second fixture as Lesotho advanced to the

Group Stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. Makteng was then named to Lesotho's squad for the 2022 COSAFA Cup in July of that year. In Lesotho's opening match he scored his country's game-winning goal against

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

in the 2–1 upset victory.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Lesotho's goal tally first.''

International career statistics

Personal

Makateng was born and raised in Pitseng in the

Leribe District Leribè is a district of Lesotho. It has an area of 2,828 km2 and a population in 2016 of approximately 337,500. Hlotse is the capital or camptown of the district. The district has one additional town, namely Maputsoe. In the west, Leribe bo ...

. He is an officer in the

Lesotho Defence Force The Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) is the military of the Southern African Kingdom of Lesotho, which consists of about 2,000 personnel and is tasked with maintaining internal security, territorial integrity, and defending the constitution of Lesoth ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Makateng, Katleho 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Lesotho men's footballers Lesotho men's international footballers Richards Bay F.C. players