Monnapule Kenneth Saleng (born 13 March 1998) is a South African professional

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 as a winger for Orlando Pirates and the South Africa national team.

Club career

Having started his career at Orbit College in the

SAFA Second Division The ABC Motsepe League, previously known as the Vodacom League between 1998 and 2012, was founded in 1998 as the current Second Division and the overall third tier of South African football. The competition is regulated by SAFA, and until 2012 ...

, Saleng joined

Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club is a South African professional football club based in Bethlehem, Free State that plays in the National First Division. Formerly known as Makwane Computer Stars and Qwa Qwa Stars, their most significant honour i ...

in 2019. He was the top scorer in the

2020–21 National First Division The 2020–21 National First Division (called the GladAfrica Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the season from November 2020 to May 2021 of South Africa's second tier of professional soccer, the National First Division. Teams 16 teams c ...

, scoring 13 goals in 29 matches. Saleng signed 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 Orlando Pirates in July 2021, but spent the 2021–22 season on loan at

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often known as simply Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two ...

, where he scored twice in 22 league appearances. He returned to Pirates for the 2022–23 season, where he became a first-team regular, scoring five goals in eight matches in the opening half of the season.

International career

Saleng was part of the South Africa squad at the

2021 COSAFA Cup The 2021 COSAFA Cup was the 20th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). It took place on 6–18 July 2021. ...

, starting in the opening 1–0 victory against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. In total, he made 6 appearances as South Africa won the tournament. In November 2022, Saleng was included in the South Africa squad for two friendly fixtures against

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and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleng, Monnapule 1998 births Living people South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players Association football wingers Free State Stars F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Moroka Swallows F.C. players South African Premier Division players National First Division players