Nkosinathi Nhleko (born 24 July 1979, in Ermelo) is a retired South African

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 last played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

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 ...

and Retired at Antaliay Football Club (Turkey Football League) Nhleko was a stocky built striker known for his pace and ability to hold up the ball and turn defenders not so much for his goal scoring exploits.

Club career

Nhleko began his professional career with South African club

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 ...

, for whom he played from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, Nhleko moved to Brann of Norway; although he appeared in 20 games, including two UEFA Cup matches, Nhleko had trouble adjusting to the climate and environment at Brann, and during the summer of 2003, was loaned to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

's Dallas Burn for the rest of the season. Nhleko performed well in 11 games with the Burn, showing strength and power possessed by few MLS forwards, registering two goals and four assists while teaming well with

Eddie Johnson Edward, Eddie or Ed Johnson may refer to: Politicians * Edward Johnson (founder of Woburn, MA) (1598–1672), colonial military officer and writer * Edward Johnson (mayor) (1767–1829), mayor of Baltimore *Edward A. Johnson (1860–1944), first A ...

. The team bought Nhleko in the 2004 offseason for a nominal fee, and he played a larger role in the team's 2004 offense. Appearing either as a substitute for

Jason Kreis Jason Clarence Kreis (born December 29, 1972) is an American soccer coach and former player who currently serves as an assistant coach for MLS club Inter Miami CF and as head coach of the United States under-23 team. He coached Orlando City S ...

or a starter with Eddie Johnson, Nhleko played in 23 games for Dallas in 2004, 13 of them starts, while scoring six goals and two assists. He left the team after the season, coming back to the Cosmos. He arrived for his second spell at

in January 2005 but his stay was short lived as he moved back to Europe, where he was signed by

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...

. In July 2005, Nhleko returned to Norway to play for Viking. He helped Viking by scoring to beat AS Monaco and Slavia Prague in the 2005 Uefa cup. In August 2006 he was sold to Swedish club

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differe ...

. In August 2007 he was loaned out to Sandefjord until November 2007. He returned to

His third stint at Jomo Cosmos proved to be fruitless. He failed to score a single league goal in a team who were struggling to find goals to fight off relegation. He did however score a cup goal in a 1–0 win over Golden Arrows in a Nedbank Cup Last 32 Round match. After Jomo Cosmos relegation from the Premier Soccer League during the 2007/08 season, Nhleko signed for

Thanda Royal Zulu Thanda Royal Zulu was a South African football club based in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. History The club started after a Swedish consortium that included Sven-Goran Eriksson bought the franchise from Benoni Premier United at the end of the 2006 ...

on a Bosman free transfer.

International career

Nhleko has made ten appearances scoring one goal for 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' ...

, playing in the

2004 African Nations Cup The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

International Goals

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhleko, Toni 1979 births Living people People from Ermelo, Mpumalanga South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players Jomo Cosmos F.C. players SK Brann players FC Dallas players Viking FK players Hammarby Fotboll players Sandefjord Fotball players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Thanda Royal Zulu F.C. players South African Premier Division players Eliteserien players Allsvenskan players Major League Soccer players Olympic soccer players of South Africa Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players South African expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Sweden South African expatriate sportspeople in Norway South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Association football forwards