In this week's edition of Story Behind The Nickname, KickOff catches up with former Dangerous Darkies and Royal Tigers midfielder Veli Khumalo about his nickname 'Malombo'.
Khumalo, whose football journey ended at Mamelodi Sundowns, is currently working as an IsiZulu football commentator at SuperSport.
Khumalo is preferred by most IsiZulu commentary followers as he gives an in-depth analysis of every move a player makes on the pitch during his informative football commentaries.
Who and where did you play?
"It all began in my uncle's amateur team Mofolo Young Destroyers, nicknamed Botafogo, after the Brazilian club.
"But on Wednesdays, I played for my school team, Daliwonga, with the likes of Doctor Khumalo and Chacklas Shongwe.
"That's where Dangerous Darkies spotted me. From there, I went to Royal Tigers in Ethekwini. They had just been promoted, but unfortunately, they couldn't stay for more than a season at the top.
"But before Aces and Royal Tigers, I had a trial at Sundowns, the late Bra Screamer Tshabalala was still the coach. I was spotted by this grootman, Bra Spear Makhoba. I owe that grootman a lot, he is somewhere around Orlando West.
"But my biggest problem there was the Sundowns team bus, because I was the youngest the bus would always start by collecting me for training, then it would pick up Ace Khuse in Randfontein, the funny thing is after training I would be the last one to be dropped off, at 1 a.m, and still had to wake up in time for school. After training the bus would start by taking home senior players like Lucky Molefe. That's when my uncle stopped me from training with Sundowns.
"Royal Tigers is my last team; that's where I stopped playing because sometimes you'd get paid and sometimes you didn't.
"My teammate there was Joel Faya. Remember those days when there were no contracts? I'm talking about top-tier clubs. The PSL."
What's your nickname?
"Malombo."
Who gave it to you and why?
"The gave me the name during the festive tournaments we used to play in Zola in December. It was sponsored by some doctor, and teams would compete for money, trophies, and a brand new kit.
"My playing style was similar to Jan 'Malombo' Lechaba, I was a midfielder. Hey, benginzima [I was difficult to deal with]. I played the football that is being dished out by Patrick Maswanganyi right now.
"But as for who gave me the nickname 'Malombo', I don't know who started the whole thing."
Did you like it?
"A nickname. There's nothing you can do about it; you have no choice but to accept it."
Anyone that didn't use it?
"Doctor Khumalo used to call me 'Kwitiza', that's the name that was given to me by some old man who liked watching us as kids playing football. He was limping when he walked. I believe he was a former Lamontville Golden Arrows player."
If you could relive it, what would you want your nickname to be?
"My favourite nickname is Ace. Just the sound of it. It sounded very nice. I had a lot of love and respect for Ace Ntsoelengoe. He was a star.
"A nickname is important for a footballer because it defines the way you play. Imagine if a football player was only to be known by Thokozani? Eish it doesn't sound right. A nickname proves to people how good you are."