African All-Star of January – Relebohile Mofokeng

When Relebohile Mofokeng was named as the African All-Star of October, it was based on how well he had played in local tournaments.

At the start of the year, he’s gone a step further because now his All-Star status is mainly based on his amazing form in continental competition.

At the end of the CAF Champions League group stage, Mofokeng sits as the top South African scorer with four goals.

After scoring in each of the last three group games, it seems likely that he’ll keep contributing to the Pirates cause in the knockouts.

Orlando Pirates started their year with a home game against Stade d’Abidjan. Mofokeng got the ball rolling with their first goal of 2025 when he was on the end of a beautiful passage of passing play.

Mofokeng calmly placed the ball into an empty net and the Buccaneers were on their way in what turned out to be a 3-0 win.

Next up was a midweek Betway Premiership assignment against Cape Town City in game that was notable for two rare events.

The first one was that it was a loss for the Buccaneers. The second was that Mofokeng failed to register a goal contribution.

After that mishap in Cape Town, it’s fair to say that Pirates and Mofokeng didn’t let it affect them going forward.

CHANCE TO SECURE QUALIFICATION

The team turned their attention back to continental competition when they hosted CR Belouizdad with a chance to secure qualification for the quarterfinals.

Mofokeng made it 1-0 with a goal that showed his great predatory instinct as a finisher.

When a deflected shot wrong-footed the Belouizdad goalkeeper who could only manage to parry it away, the rebound went straight to Mofokeng who had gone on a timely run just in case an opportunity would present itself.

The youngster placed the ball into the net with a neat left-foot finish. Pirates went on to win 2-1 and their spot in the knockouts was secured.

Next up was a trip to Egypt for a game against Al Ahly. Even though their place among the final eight was guaranteed there was no way that Pirates were going to slack off for such a challenging fixture.

For the third group game in a row, it was Mofokeng who opened the scoring and set up Pirates for the win.

Early in the second half, Thalente Mbatha dinked a pass into the box which Mofokeng brought down with a good touch that fooled the defenders. He then slotted it past the keeper with a clinical finish to round off a great piece of opportunism.

BACK TO PSL

After their win in Cairo, it was back to PSL football as Pirates began their defence of the Nedbank Cup with an away trip to Richards Bay.

After a scoring run of three straight games, Mofokeng reminded everyone that he’s also a quality provider.

In a 3-1 win, Mofokeng made two assists. The first came when he neatly played a short pass into the path of Patrick Maswanganyi who fired the ball in from outside the box.

The second came from an intelligent piece of skill. After receiving the ball in front of goal crowded by defenders who were expecting him to shoot, he spotted Maswanganyi running into a better position and slid the ball to his teammate instead.

Now we are in February and Pirates are still contenders in three different tournaments this season. If Mofokeng can build on his brilliant start to the year, there could be plenty of silverware coming his way before his 21st birthday.

He’s not just a star of the future. He’s an all-star right now.