Andile Ernest Jali (born 10 April 1990) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who once played for

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

and is currently signed to

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in East London in the Eastern Cape province, having previously been based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club ...

. He also plays for the South African national team.

Club career

Mhlekazi, as his teammates refer to him, has made a name for himself since moving from the

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

side

Pretoria University The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

to Soweto giants

. He joined

in 2009. He since became the subject of favourable comparisons to Benedict Vilakazi - who wore the number 15 jersey before Jali. Jali was part of the

squad that made history in South African football by winning three trophies in one season under Dutch coach

Ruud Krol Rudolf Jozef "Ruud" (or "Rudi") Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax. He became a coach afte ...

. The same team went on to defend two of their trophies won in the previous year and also win another to make it a back to back treble. Jali has established himself as one of the most important players in the Orlando Pirates squad, winning several trophies at his time at the club. Partly due to his success with the Soweto side, he was touted as the future captain of the South African national team (Bafana Bafana). He has also received acclaim for his performances with some analysts claiming he has the potential to make a name for himself in European football. In January 2014, Jali signed for Belgian Pro League team

K.V. Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, was a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Ostend, West Flanders. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and had Football in Belgium#Matr ...

. During the 2015–16 season, he's second at the club; Jali was impressive, helping guide Oostende to a 5th-place finish in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. In 2023 he moved to

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often referred to as Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto, Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two Soweto clubs ...

, but the club faced major internal problems with players leading a strike. Moroka Swallows forfeited two league games. In January 2024, over 20 players were fired, including Jali. Jali lost a legal case against Moroka Swallows. In 2024 Jali signed for

International career

He was a member of the South African squad at the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

in Egypt. He made his debut for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 2010. In 2010, Jali was named in the preliminary 30-man South African squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

but missed out on the 23-man squad because of a mild heart condition which ruled him out of the competition. During 2015, Jali was called up the 2015 African Cup of Nations, playing in South Africa's games against Algeria, Ghana and Senegal in the competition.

International goals

:''Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first.''

Honours

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

**2010-11, 2011–12 *

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of gi ...

**2011 *

Telkom Knockout The Carling Knockout Cup is a South African professional soccer knockout competition which comprises the 16 teams in the South African Premiership. The Carling Knockout Cup is the third of the three main cups administered by the PSL along with ...

**2011 *

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

**2010, 2011 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

**Runner-up: 2013 *

Carling Black Label Carling Black Label is a lager distributed by Carling Brewing Company. History Although its original focus was on ale, Carling has brewed lager-style beers since the 1870s. In 1927, as part of a corporate re-branding under new president ...

**2011, 2012

**2018-2019 **2019-2020 **2020-2021 **2021-2022 *

**2020 **2022 *

**2019 *

**2021 *

**Quarter-Finalist x2

Individual

* Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament in

: 2011 PSL player of the season, Premier soccer League winner 2019 /2020 season with Sundowns. Nedbank cup 2020 with Sundowns.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jali, Andile 1990 births Living people Soccer players from the Eastern Cape People from Matatiele Local Municipality South African men's soccer players South Africa men's international soccer players South African Premier Division players Orlando Pirates F.C. players K.V. Oostende players Belgian Pro League players Men's association football midfielders University of Pretoria F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Moroka Swallows F.C. players Chippa United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium South African expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century South African sportsmen