Siyabonga Eugene Nomvethe (; born 2 December 1977) is a South African former 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Nomvethe played in several European leagues. Nomvethe represented the South Africa national team from his debut on 6 May 1999, and he played in the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and 2010 World Cups. He is the highest all-time goal scorer in the PSL.

Biography

Nomvethe was born in the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

KwaMashu KwaMashu is a township (South Africa), township north of Durban, South Africa. The name is in honour of Sir Marshall Campbell and means ''Place of Marshall''. KwaMashu is bordered by Newlands East to the south, Newlands West to the west, Ntuzuma t ...

north of

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

province of South Africa.

Club career

Nomvethe started playing as a striker for the Durban-based lower league club Durban Cosmos in 1994, from which he moved to Claremont Blizzards.

African Wanderers

When Claremont Blizzards folded the following year, Nomvethe moved to

African Wanderers African Wanderers is a South African professional football club, based in the Chatsworth township, which is a suburb of Durban in South Africa. The club currently play in the KwaZulu-Natal province of Vodacom League, and prefer to use the SJ Smi ...

in the second best South African league. He helped the club secure

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and Nomvethe made his first appearances in the

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, playing alongside later ''Bafana Bafana'' striker

Sibusiso Zuma Sibusiso Wiseman Zuma (born 23 June 1975) is a South African former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward or midfielder. Club career Early career Born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Z ...

and

Phumlani Mkhize Phumlani is a South African given name that may refer to *Phumlani Dlamini (born 1988), Swaziland football defender * Phumlani Mgobhozi (born 1978), Maskanda artist from South Africa * Phumlani Nodikida (born 1978), South African rugby union player ...

. In his debut season, he scored a brace against Chiefs.

Kaizer Chiefs

In July 1998, he moved on to become a part of the striking force of

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 ...

. Following 42 goals in 79 games for Kaizer Chiefs, Nomvethe moved abroad in 2001. He was then already touted as a coming star for the ''Bafana Bafana''. Nomvethe made his debut on 8 August 1998 and scored in a 2–1 loss to

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African amateur football club based in Bloemfontein that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of the South African football league system. Bloemfontein Celtic has ...

. He injured himself and was out of action for a few months; he did come back later on that season and scored a total of eight goals. Nomvethe was put in place of

Pollen Ndlanya Pollen Ndlanya (born 22 May 1970 in Daveyton) is a retired South African footballer who played as a striker. He played for Kaizer Chiefs, Manning Rangers, Bursaspor, Göztepe, Amazulu and Orlando Pirates. He also played for South Africa nati ...

who left the team and score 22 goals in all competition including three in the BobSave Super Bowl to help Chiefs win their first silverware of the new millennium. He scored 11 goals on either half of the season and scored Chiefs first goal of the millennium on 8 January 2000 against his old team

. He scored 18 goals in all competitions the next season scoring his tenth against

Ria Stars Ria Stars were a South African football club from Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern Sotho Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African amateur football club based in Bloemfontein that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of the South African football league system. Bloemfontein Celtic has ...

in a BobSave Super Bowl quarter final in the 65th minute which was his 58th for Chiefs.

Udinese

He signed with Italian club

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Football in Italy, Italian association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a ...

of the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. In 2002, he was selected to play for South Africa at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He made his presence clear when scoring the winning goal of the 1–0 win against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Following two unsuccessful years at Udinese, Nomvethe was loaned out to smaller Italian clubs

Salernitana Calcio Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recent ...

and

Empoli F.C. Empoli Football Club, commonly referred to as Empoli, is an Italian football club based in Empoli, Metropolitan City of Florence. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs that do not belong to a provincial ...

from January 2004 to June 2005. He was subsequently loaned out for six months to

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

in Sweden, before he permanently left Udinese in December 2005. He moved back to South Africa, signing on for

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 ...

Aalborg BK

In July 2006, he once again moved abroad, this time to play for

Aalborg Boldspilklub Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but cur ...

(AaB) in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

. He stayed with AaB for three years, won the

2007–08 Danish Superliga The 2007–08 Danish Superliga season was the 18th season of the Danish Superliga league championship, which determined the winners of the Danish football championship. It was governed by the Danish Football Association. It started with the first ...

championship with the club, and scored a goal in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

as AaB was eliminated by

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul on 20 May 2009. This season was the final one to use the UEFA Cup for ...

round of 16.

Moroka Swallows

In 2009, Nomvethe moved back to South Africa to join Moroka Swallows, rivals of the two soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates he represented during his domestic career. Nomvethe at the age of 34, won the PSL Footballer of the Year, Absa Player of the Season, Players' Player of the Season and the

Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot The Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented by the Premier Soccer League to the leading goalscorer in the South African Premier Division. The award, colloquially known as the PSL Golden Boot or simply the Go ...

with 20 goals at the 2011–12 PSL awards which was a total of R600,000.

AmaZulu

Nomvethe last played for

AmaZulu Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal ...

in the

having joined the team in January 2016. He was the all leading top scorer in the PSL.

International career

Nomvethe received his first cap in 1999 against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, becoming a first team player from 2001–2007. He played in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and scored the game's only goal against

. He also participated at the 2005 Gold Cup &

2006 African Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Egypt won ...

until he lost his place on the national team, and he was not picked for either the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

nor the

2009 Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

under Joel Santana in South Africa. But in April 2010, he was called up by

Carlos Alberto Parreira Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira (born 27 February 1943) is a Brazilian former football Coach (sport), manager who holds the record for attending the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments as manager with six appearances. He also managed five differ ...

for the friendly matches against

Korea DPR North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Nomvethe scored South Africa's second in a 2–0 victory over Jamaica, with what was his first international goal in three. He was selected for South Africa's squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, and came off the bench as a substitute to play against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in South Africa's third and last game at the tournament. He scored 16 goals for South Africa.

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nomvethe goal.''

Coaching career

On 17 December 2020, it was announced that Siyabonga would be joining

as an assistant coach to Benni McCarthy. This is his first coaching position.

Personal life

Nomvethe married his childhood sweetheart, Nompumelelo "Mpumi" Ngubane-Mpanza (b. 1980) on 6 July 2002 in a secret Zulu traditional wedding ceremony at

D-section township outside

which was attended only by relatives and a few people from the local community. A week later, Mpanza faked a kidnapping plot and lied to the police in order to get his attention. Nomvethe and the police later found out that Mpanza had lied in order to go overseas to live with Nomvethe and according to the police, Mpanza was scared Nomvete would dump her and the baby for other girls in Italy. A local police spokesperson, superintendent Percy Mthembu, confirmed Mpanza was being investigated for obstructing the course of justice after she became unco-operative during their investigation. The angry star even threatened to kill the writer of a City Press article and said "I don't want to spill blood, but I will be forced to. Kuzophuma isidumbu ngalendaba. I'm telling you," he vowed. In February 2002, extortionists attempted to kidnap Mpanza and her baby Lifa twice at Inanda.

Honours

Djurgårdens IF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

AaB *

: 2007–08 Moroka Swallows *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

MTN 8 MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. T ...

: 2012 Individual *

PSL Footballer of the Year The PSL Footballer of the Year in South African football is awarded to the most outstanding player of the season across the domestic league, the South African Premier Division, and the three major cup competitions, the MTN 8, the Telkom Knockout a ...

: 2011–12 *

PSL Player of the Season The PSL Player of the Season in 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 O ...

: 2011–12 * PSL Players' Player of the Season: 2011–12 *

: 2011–12 (20 goals)

References

External links

AaB profileCareer stats
at

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomvethe, Siyabonga 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Durban South African soccer players Association football midfielders Association football forwards South Africa international soccer players Olympic soccer players of South Africa Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players South African expatriate soccer players Serie A players Serie B players Allsvenskan players Danish Superliga players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Udinese Calcio players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Empoli F.C. players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Orlando Pirates F.C. players AaB Fodbold players Moroka Swallows F.C. players AmaZulu F.C. players Uthongathi F.C. players 2010 FIFA World Cup players South African expatriate sportspeople in Denmark South African expatriate sportspeople in Italy South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Italy