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Jabulani Maluleke will go down as one of the best players who didn't get recognition at the national team level, despite having an illustrious career and winning a league title.

- By Zola Doda

The Soweto-born midfielder started his career at a young age before joining the now-defunct Dynamos after being scouted by the club's technical team while participating in the Godfrey Moloi Games. The Limpopo-based side invited Maluleke for trials before signing the midfielder when he was just 18 years old, under the guidance of coach Jacob Sakala. After leaving Dynamos, he joined Dangerous Darkies before establishing himself as a regular at Black Leopards alongside the likes of Hlompho Kekana and Sibusiso Dlamini. But his move to SuperSport United saw Maluleke go from a promising midfielder to a league champion. Maluleke went on to play for Polokwane City and Sekhukhune United before retiring, having made more than 350 appearances.

Jabu, thanks a lot for talking to us. When you look back on your career, what can you say are the funniest things you ever saw in a dressing room?

Ha, ha, ha, when I was at Black Leopards, we had Athiel Mbaha who was partially deaf. I don't think most people knew that the guy could hear but from a distance he couldn't hear.

We were playing a match and leading by 2-0, but then in the second half, things changed and we conceded three goals and ended up losing the match 3-2.

But to be fair, some of the goals were not his fault. So, after the match, there was tension inside our dressing room. We were just sitting there, looking down and then our chairman David Thidiela walked in. As funny as he is, he was angry at that time and asking how we could go from 2-0 to end up losing 3-2.