Lebogang Ghiba Morula (sometimes spelt Lebohang) (22 December 1968 – 7 August 2024) was a South African soccer player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Morula started his career at

Jomo Cosmos Jomo Cosmos is a South African soccer club based in Johannesburg that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono. At the end of the 2021–22 National First Division season, the ...

in South Africa and moved in 1995 to Colombian club

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

with fellow South African footballer Teboho Moloi in a "pay as you play" contract. He made his debut against

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a Colombian professional football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play thei ...

becoming the first African player to appear in the

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

. However, he disliked the contract based on appearances and left the club after playing only 20 minutes. In 1996, he was brought to Peru by former South Africa manager Augusto Palacios to play for

Aurich–Cañaña Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a Peru, Peruvian association football, football club based in Chiclayo. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005. The club currently ...

, ending the season relegated from the

1996 Torneo Descentralizado The 1996 Torneo Descentralizado was the 81st season of the top category of Peruvian football. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. Sporting Cristal won its 13th first division title, completing a string of 3 consecutive titles starting ...

. In 1997, Morula returned to Jomo Cosmos, scoring once in the Rothmans Cup against

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

. He joined Turkish club

Vanspor Vanspor A.Ş. was a football team of Van in eastern Turkey. History They played in the Süper Lig, top division of Turkish football, between 1994 and 1998, playing once more in 1999–2000 season. After relegation from the first division, Vans ...

in December, playing 16

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

matches and scoring once against

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish professional football club based in İzmit, Kocaeli. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980 and 1988, 1992–2003, and the 2008–09 seasons. Their best finish was in the 1992–93 season, w ...

, but could not avoid ending at the bottom at the table and left the club after the end of the season. He returned to Jomo Cosmos as a player-assistant before ending his career in 2001.

International career

Morula acquired Peruvian citizenship by the time he played at Juan Aurich, but opted to play for the South Africa national team. He appeared once in a friendly match against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and was a member of the squad that travelled to France for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

Personal life

Morula was born in

Brits, North West Brits () is a town in the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is situated in a fertile citrus, vegetable and grain-producing area that is irrigated by the waters of the Hartbeespoort Dam. It is close to ...

. His son Karol Josep Lebogang Bernal was born in Peru and is a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, having trained with the Peru U23 national team. Morula was arrested for many crimes such as hijacking, stealing cars generators and electronic goods, ATM robbery, and armed robbery. He was also convicted of malicious damage to property back in 1986 and theft in 2004. He also faced controversy in his second marriage in 2014 when his bride's mother and two of his sons attempted to stop the wedding stating he was still married to his legal wife, who was on her deathbed. It was also stated that his new wife had a boyfriend and that he struck Morula with a

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock, or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attac ...

later in the same night.

Death

He was shot and killed near his family home in Moumong, Mmaku, South Africa, on 7 August 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morula, Lebogang 1966 births 2024 deaths South African men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders South Africa men's international soccer players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Categoría Primera A players Süper Lig players Jomo Cosmos F.C. players Once Caldas footballers Juan Aurich footballers Vanspor footballers South African expatriate men's soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia South African expatriate sportspeople in Peru Expatriate men's footballers in Peru South African expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Deaths by firearm in South Africa 2024 murders in South Africa South African murder victims 20th-century South African sportsmen