The two 90 minutes shifts that Monnapule Saleng has put in for newcomers Orbit College, have come with approval.
Saleng is back playing football again after returning to Orbit on loan from Orlando Pirates doing so after having last had official club minutes on December 7, 2024, when he played against Al Ahly.
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He then played one match in the CHAN qualifiers for Bafana Bafana against Egypt at the beginning of March.
Yet there has been nothing to suggest the 27-year-old hasn’t played competitive for so long.
"I think the boy is back and you could see he is enjoying football again," says Pogiso Makhoye, the Orbit coach.
"And right now everybody is supporting him, even the teammates, he is one of our leaders and when we took out (Atisang) Batsi, he had the armband.
"He is enjoying himself again and is helping the team.
"Even that goal, he was helping (Letsie) Koapeng and also had two big chances.
"I think he still needs match sharpness and once he gets his sharpness, he will bury those chances.
“"I’m happy he created chances, and you could that today he really came for the team.
"If we have Saleng in the team it means that now he is helping us because the opponents are worried, and they know how dangerous Saleng is, and he is opening the spaces for the other players.
"Like right now with that ball everyone was worried about Saleng and he just came in and hit the net," notes Makhoye.
"Saleng was not playing football in the Betway Premier League, but he has been training so that is why even the past two games he played 90 minutes.
"So, it was not an issue of him lacking fitness because he has been training with Pirates.
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"And even when we got him, we knew that he was fit because he has been playing friendlies and those friendlies were preparing him for match days.
"So, that is why his sharpness is still there and only trying to understand his teammates.
"With the two games we have played he is getting there," says Makhoye.
Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
