Katlego Abel Mphela (born 29 November 1984) is a South African retired professional

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, rugb ...

who played as a forward.

Club career

Mphela, a product of

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 ...

, played in France for

RC Strasbourg Alsace Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

and

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Au ...

, both with limited success. After returning home he turned out for

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Div ...

for the 2007–08 season before joining

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

the following season. He then finished the 2009–10 season with 17 goals in 30 games which made him the league's top goalscorer. He won 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 ...

and was voted

PSL Players' Player of the Season The PSL Players' Player of the Season in South African football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football ...

. Mphela joined Chiefs in 2014. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Maritzburg United Maritzburg United is a South African football club based in the city of Pietermaritzburg that currently plays in the Premier Soccer League. Honours *First Division Coastal Stream champions: 2007–08 *First Division Championship Play-offs: 200 ...

. He scored his first goal for Chiefs against Free State Stars but it was cancelled out almost immediately in a 1–1 draw. Mphela scored on the last league match of the season in the 55th minute against AmaZulu in a 3–0 win. After two years out of action, 34-year old Mphela announced his retirement in August 2019. He also announced, that he would begin as a coach and that he already was coaching youth players.

International career

Mphela scored a brace on his debut for the South Africa national team against

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

on 26 February 2005. He has represented South Africa 53 times, scoring 23 goals. He scored South Africa's only goal in the 3–1 defeat against Tunisia in the

2008 African Nations Cup 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 ...

. Perhaps Mphela's greatest moment came in the

2009 FIFA 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 Jo ...

third-place playoff against Spain. Coming in as a substitute Mphela produced arguably the goal of the tournament with a free kick from 30 yards, which turned out to be the last action of the 90 mins, sending the game into extra time. Mphela was included in South Africa's 23-man final squad for the

2010 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 ...

. He played in the inaugural match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, which ended 1–1. Next, the ''Bafana Bafana'' played against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, but they lost the game 3–0. In their final group game, he scored the 2nd goal in a 2–1 win 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 ...

as South Africa exited the competition. Mphela opened the scoring in South Africa's first international match following the 2010 World Cup putting South Africa up 1–0 against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

. Mphela scored the winner for South Africa against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

in the 93rd minute with a perfect finish that saw the North Africans beaten by South Africa for the first time in competitive football between the two countries and increased the hopes of qualification. Mphela also participated in the 2013 African Cup of Nations tournament.

Style of play

His style of play includes challenging defenders with both pace and strength but he can still play deep as a supporting striker. He is nicknamed "Killer" for his finishing ability.

Career statistics

International goals

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mphela, Katlego 1984 births Living people People from Brits, North West South African soccer players Association football forwards South Africa international soccer players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Jomo Cosmos F.C. players South African expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in France RC Strasbourg Alsace players South African expatriate sportspeople in France Stade de Reims players SuperSport United F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Sportspeople from North West (South African province)