My Dream Team
During Orlando Pirates’ best spell since the turn of the century, Thulasizwe Mbuyane M was one of the most popular players with The Ghost. ‘Juju’, as he is affectionately known, was n the Pirates team that won back-to-back ‘ Trebles’ after oining o from F
Former Orlando Pirates striker Thulasizwe Mbuyane selects his best-ever XI from past teammates.
1 Goalkeeper Moneeb Josephs
Moneeb was someone … if you played with him, you would know that a loss is not something he takes lightly. He would fight if we didn’t do well, unlike now where it’s OK for players to post things on Social Media after a defeat. To Moneeb, that would not have gone down well.
2 Rightback Lucky Lekgwathi
Our captain at Orlando Pirates, Lucky was one of the hard workers, he pushed us on and off the field. He dedicated his time to Pirates and he was rewarded with all the trophies that the team won during the two ‘ Treble’ seasons.
3 Leftback Innocent Mdledle
‘Inno’ was a top defender, when it was time to be rough and start kicking players, he would do that. At training he would also kick some of our teammates if they were giving him trouble! He didn’t mind rolling up his sleeves and doing the dirty work.
4 Centreback Mbulelo Mabizela
I played with OJ at both Orlando Pirates and Mpumalanga Black Aces. He was a very reserved guy who kept to himself and just wanted others around him to work hard. He was one of the smartest players in the team who would see danger long before it came.
5 Centreback Christopher Tsotetsi
I played with Christopher at Free State Stars and after that he left for Santos. He was a great defender, a very humble guy who didn’t like giving the ball away. He always wanted to play out from the back, just like OJ [Mabizela] and Robyn Johannes.
6 Central midfielder Oupa Manyisa
Oupa was a general – he wanted to be involved in every aspect on the field. He wanted the ball everywhere he was on the field. Him and Andile Jali had this understanding that if one of them is attacking the other has to stay behind and defend. That is what made their combination great.
7 Right wing Matome Madimabe
I played with Madimabe at Free State Stars, and he had the pace like no-one’s business. Matome was a nice guy and went about his game without giving anyone problems. He is one of the most underrated players I have ever played with.
8 Playmaker Andile Jali
If there was an opposition player giving us problems, Andile would just say, ‘leave him to me, I will sort him out’. He trusted himself a lot. I remember his first training session after he joined from University of Pretoria. He was kicking everyone, Teko Modise was
left crying! That session was a war between Andile and Michael Morton. They were kicking each other.
9 Forward Benni McCarthy
Benni hated losing and not being part of the team. He wanted the team to win and at the same time, he wanted to be part of that. He was so smart – he knew how to position himself, when to pass and when to shoot. He was one of our best players in the team.
10 Playmaker Teko Modise
Teko had all the qualities you need from a creative player, he would make things happen. He understood all his teammate and when to give them the ball. He was someone that was constantly looking for ways to penetrate the opposition, create or score goals.
11 Left wing Daine Klate
Daine was a great player and was also lucky when it comes to winning trophies. When he joined Pirates, he brought his luck with him and we won many trophies. He always stayed behind to do extra work on free-kicks. His crosses were always on point and strikers benefited from that.