There was an unfamiliar sight during Mamelodi Sundowns' 3-1 victory over Marumo Gallants on Wednesday night as full-back Thapelo Morena turned into a goalkeeper in the late stages of the match. Here's a look at which other outfield stars have stood in goal and how they fared.
The Story
Downs collected yet another three points in the Betway Premiership after claiming a 3-1 win over Gallants, thanks to goals by Marcelo Allende, Lucas Ribeiro Costa, and Iqraam Rayners for the Pretoria outfit, while Junior Dion scored the only goal for the losing side.
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Although the Brazilians took the spoils with a comfortable cushion, the match wasn't without drama, as veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango was shown a second yellow card in the 90th minute.
At that stage, Masandawana had used up all five of their substitutes, prompting Morena to replace Onyango between the sticks during six minutes of added time.
This caused a bit of a buzz online, with some noting that Morena has virtually played in almost every position.
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— Sahil Ebrahim (@sahil_e_) February 19, 2025
Last bit of drama in this game.....
Thapelo Morena takes the goalkeeper gloves if only for the last few minutes as Denis Onyango gets sent off for Sundowns in stoppage time. ?? pic.twitter.com/mqD7SSmky6
Although this is a relatively rare occurrence in top-level football, outfield players like Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane, Dani Alves, and Kyle Walker have famously worn the gloves after their goalkeepers were sent off or injured.
In South Africa, former Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele has been in a similar situation to Morena.
In 2017, during a league match against Bidvest Wits, the former Bucs defender had to replace Jackson Mabokgwane after the shot-stopper was shown a red card for handling the ball outside his box.
Jele would go on to make an impressive save to deny then-Wits star Gabadinho Mhango a hat-trick.
"I told myself that I needed to go to the posts as we had used up all our substitutions," Jele said after that game, according to IOL.
"Sometimes at training, I play as a 'keeper. That helped me, along with the confidence my teammates had in me."
Both Morena and Jele did not concede when they were called upon as goalkeepers.
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