Lehlogonolo Masalesa (born 21 March 1992 in

Mankweng Mankweng, also called Turfloop is a township in Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa, and home to the University of Limpopo. Mankweng also known as Turfloop (which is also the de facto name for the neighbourhood ...

) is a South African

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 ...

who last played for

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe Region, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was tak ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Masalesa started his top-flight career at Platinum Stars after coming through the Africa Sport Youth Development Academy. However, he only made one substitute appearance for Dikwena, prompting a move to

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system ...

, who he represented 28 times before signing a three-year deal with

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

in September 2012. The ex-national Under-20 midfielder notably impressed when given game-time during Pirates' run to the CAF Champions League Final in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. He was given the nickname "

Vieira Vieira is a Portuguese and Galician term which in Portuguese and Galician stands for the Great Pilgrim Mussel from the scallop family (Pectinidae). The term derives its use as a place and family name. History The use of the term can be traced, ...

" by famous

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

n football commentator Baba Mthethwa due to the similarities he shares with the former French international footballer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masalesa, Lehlogonolo 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Limpopo People from Polokwane Local Municipality South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Bidvest Wits F.C. players Platinum Stars F.C. players Black Leopards F.C. players Chippa United F.C. players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players South African expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Greece South African expatriate sportspeople in Greece African Games silver medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in football Association football midfielders Competitors at the 2011 All-Africa Games