In our exciting feature How I Became a Goalkeeper, former Maritzburg United shot-stopper King Ndlovu shares his story of how he ended up as a professional goalkeeper.
Ndlovu featured for a number of top-flight sides such as FC Cape Town, Jomo Cosmos, Marumo Gallants and most recently Maritzburg United.
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"I was 13 when this whole thing happened. I was playing as a striker. I was a goal-scoring machine, I was killing goalkeepers," Ndlovu tells KickOff.
"I took a break from football for a year, and when I came back, I found that there were too many strikers in our amateur team in Garankuwa.
"So, one day our team travelled to Rustenburg to play in a tournament. I sat on the bench the whole tournament.
"When we came back from that tournament our trusted goalkeeper refused to play in our next match, complaining about fatigue.
"Because I was a bench-warmer our coaches offered me his position for the day. After saving two long-range shots and a penalty I was made the club's permanent goalkeeper.
"That's how I became a goalkeeper."
"First let me mention this, at the age of 14 I was with the SuperSport United development side.
"I was playing for the Under-15s and Ronwen Williams was with the Under-17s, Sherwin Naicker was with the Under-19s. So, growing up I learned a lot from people like that.
"But I can say the person I looked up to most was Denis Onyango. I remember I was once a ball-boy at SuperSport.
"I was always behind Onyango's goalposts."
"Marc-André ter Stegen from Barcelona tops my list of international goalkeepers I admire alongside Thibaut Courtois.
"There's also Robert Sanchez from Brighton, I love him.
"Here at home, it's Denis Onyango and Itumeleng Khune."
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