Ex-Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Cassius Mailula has not played a single minute of MLS football this season, while Bongokuhle Hlongwane has returned to action with a bang! Here is an update on how the five South Africans in the United States are getting on…
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Most headlines related to football in the MLS are dominated by Inter Miami and the star-studded squad David Beckham has helped build, but enough about the usual suspects like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. How are our South African boys doing this season?
Let's start with former Maritzburg winger Hlongwane, who has recently started working with former Manchester United coach Eric Ramsay. The 32-year-old has become the youngest senior manager in MLS history, and guided Minnesota United to victory in his first official match in charge on Sunday – a 2-0 win at home over Los Angeles FC. Hlongwane was introduced as a second-half substitute, replacing ex-Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki with 20 minutes to go, before scoring two minutes from time! The 23-year-old, who has been capped on 18 occasions for South Africa on the international stage, also struck when he netted a dramatic late winner in his team's 3-2 win over Orlando City last week Sunday. His latest goal involvements mean Hlongwane has contributed to 31 strikes in 73 outings for Minnesota, form that makes him comfortably South Africa's best MLS export.
Next, we've got ex-Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Njabulo Blom. The 24-year-old has featured only twice this season so far due to injuries, having played his last match for St. Louis City, coached by fellow South African Bradley Carnell, near the end of February – a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake City. Recently asked about why he left Blom out of his Bafana Bafana squad for the national team's upcoming friendlies, manager Hugo Broos explained it was because he has not been playing.
Moving on to Johannesburg-born 26-year-old midfielder Katlego Ntsabeleng, "Tsiki", as he is also known, has featured for just 22 minutes in this campaign so far for FC Dallas, whom he joined from Oregon State in 2022. Ntsabeleng sat out his side's first two MLS matches of the season – a 2-1 win over San Jose Earthquakes and a 2-1 defeat to CF Montreal – before making his first appearance from the bench in a loss to New York Red Bulls earlier this month. In a 3-1 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday, he was introduced with 17 minutes left on the clock but was unable to impact the game.
Former Stellenbosch FC centre-back Olwethu Makhanya, meanwhile, is yet to make his senior debut for Philadelphia Union in the MLS since his arrival in July last year, but he has featured for the club's Next Pro team since the 2024 campaign got underway. The 19-year-old defender played the full 90 minutes in Philadelphia II's 2-1 victory over Toronto II on Sunday, and will be hoping to impress enough to be considered for senior games in the near future.
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Lastly, we have former Downs attacker Mailula, who is disappointingly still awaiting his first appearance of the season. The 22-year-old has been named on the bench in all four of Toronto FC's MLS games, but has not yet been called upon by coach John Herdman. This won't help his chances of getting back into Broos' South Africa squad, particularly after the Belgian tactician criticised his move to the United States ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The winger has played only three times for the club since he switched the PSL for the MLS last year, which came after he impressed with 19 goal contributions in 31 matches for Masandawana in the 2022/23 season.
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