Orlando Pirates legend confirms jersey no. blessing

Do Orlando Pirates fans still remember who wore jersey number 14 before Monnapule Saleng? It was Thulani Hlatshwayo who inherited it from the great Lucky ‘Phinda Mzala’ Lekgwathi.

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MONNAPULE SALENG BECOMES AN ORLANDO PIRATES SUPERSTAR

It has all happened this spring. The 24-year-old Saleng returned from loan at Swallows FC in July before starting his first game against Mamelodi Sundowns in September.

The Bloemhof-born player needed just eight games to bang in five goals for Pirates. Without surprise, he is the most popular name in local football. His name is mentioned in every corner of Mzansi.

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Meanwhile, Pirates’ former star Lekgwathi has shared a word about Saleng’s jersey number 14, a number that had been worn by the Ga-Rankuwa-born legend for 14 years.

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LEKGWATHI BLESSES SALENG

Speaking to iDiskiTimes this week, Lekwathi revealed that Pirates players contact him to honour the number 14 jersey.

“Everyone who comes at Pirates to wear jersey number 14, as long as you talk to me first and understand the importance of this jersey,” Lekgwathi told Robin Duke.

“I remember Hlatshwayo calling me and saying ‘I want you to give me number 14’ and I said ‘you can take it boy.

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“I’m blessing you’. It’s just that he never performed well and he came to Pirates after a drought of I don’t know how many years (six),” Lekgwathi added.

“Now it’s Saleng. After the game against Sundowns, we spoke and I told him ‘this jersey number has history. You better make sure that you leave your legacy’.

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“He scored two goals against Sundowns and it is a good start and that is history,” the former central defender concluded.

Meanwhile, Saleng is expected to continue his magic against Kaizer Chiefs in the Carling Black Label Cup this weekend.

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You can find more engaging PSL articles from Siseko Gwegwe here.