Thabo "Festival" Matlaba (born 13 December 1987) is a South African professional

association football 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 ...

er who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

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 ...

club Royal AM. He is known for his long range shots with both his feet. Although he plays mostly as a left back, Matlaba is naturally right-footed.

International career

Matlaba 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 ...

on 14 May 2011 versus

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

in an international friendly. Matlaba scored his first international goal with a drive in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

against the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

on 23 March 2013.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matlaba, Thabo 1987 births Living people People from Tembisa Men's association football defenders South Africa men's international soccer players South African men's soccer players Free State Stars F.C. players Black Leopards F.C. players Orlando Pirates F.C. players South African Premier Division players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Soccer players from Gauteng 21st-century South African sportsmen