The Orlando Pirates fans have spoken, and by an overwhelming majority they have selected their Vodacom Fans’ Player of the Season.
It was a challenge to select only one outstanding player at the end of a season that was clearly a team effort as the Buccaneers won two Cup trophies, finished second in the DStv Premiership and qualified for the CAF Champions League.
Based on the voting, the top five contenders came down to Monnapule Saleng, Miguel Timm, Vincent Pule, Thembinkosi Lorch and Paseka Mako. And it was winger Monnapule Saleng who was crowned the Vodacom Fans’ Player of the Season after seacuring an overwhelming 80 per cent of the fans’ votes.
The fans were also winners as one lucky fan who was part of the voting won an OPPO smartphone courtesy of Vodacom.
Saleng had an incredible season as he repaid coach Jose Riveiro’s faith in him and gave the fans everything they asked for. He was critical to Orlando Pirates’ victory in the MTN8 and won the Last Man Standing award for his scintillating performances in the tournament. But Saleng showed his potential across all competitions as he scored 15 goals in total, including 11 goals in 22 matches and with eight assists in the DStv Premiership. He was also nominated for and narrowly missed out on the PSL Player of the Season award.
And now he has one more award to crown a phenomenal season as the true fan favourite.
“I’m extremely grateful to the fans for this award and their support of my performances. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without the support of my teammates and coach Jose’s faith in me. Individual awards are always an honour, but they are the result of my primary focus which is to just help my team wherever I can and add value whenever I’m on the field with my teammates,” said Saleng.