Thembinkosi Lorch (born 22 July 1993) 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 an attacking midfielder 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 ...

and the

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. He was named the South African Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season in 2019.'

Career

Thembinkosi Lorch nicknamed "Nyoso" started his career at Maluti FET College FC and after a game against

Jomo Cosmos Jomo Cosmos are a South African association football club based in Johannesburg that plays in the National First Division. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono. In the 2021-2022 National First Division sea ...

, got a call from Screamer Tshabalala who told him that Pirates was interested in him. His first PSL game was against Free State Stars, playing for

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' ...

on loan from Orlando Pirates.

DJ Maphorisa Themba Sonnyboy Sekowe (born ), known professionally as DJ Maphorisa, is a South African DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. As a record producer with a blend of house music, amapiano and afropop, he has worked with and has received p ...

and Kabza De Small's 2019 song, titled ''Lorch'', was inspired by and named after him.

Personal life

In the early morning of 7 September 2020, Lorch was arrested for allegedly

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

ing his then-girlfriend, Nokuphiwa Mathithibala. This came after she had opened up a case of assault against him at

Midrand Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History Midrand was established as a municipality in 198 ...

Police station indicating that Lorch had strangled her after she had asked about his whereabouts. In January 2021, the assault case was provisionally withdrawn with the prosecutor instructing police to investigate further. Lorch briefly dated actress

Natasha Thahane Nokuthula Thahane (born 25 September 1995), also known as Natasha Thahane, is a South African actress, model and media personality. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Blood & Water (South African TV series), Blood & Water ...

from June to September 2021.

Career statistics

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

References

External links

* 1993 births Living people Association football forwards South African soccer players National First Division players Chippa United F.C. players South African Premier Division players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players South Africa international soccer players {{SouthAfrica-footy-bio-stub