US club FC Dallas extend contract of South African midfielder

Former Kaizer Chiefs junior Tsiki Ntsabeleng has had his contact extended at FC Dallas in Major League Soccer for the 2025 season.

He is one of seven players at the club who have had contract options extended as the club plan for the new season after a disappointing 2024 campaign, where they failed to make the post-season playoffs.

It was, however, a much-improved season for the South Africa midfielder, who featured 25 times in the season, with 11 of those games in the start line-up.

He also scored away at DC United in Dallas’ only away win of the season.

Ntsabeleng’s fortunes changed as he emerged from a series of injuries and after coach Nico Estevez was fired.

Under interim manager Peter Luccin, Ntsabeleng started 10 games but the Frenchman is not staying on next year with Dallas having appointed Eric Quill as their new coach.

“I felt as the season went on, Ntsabeleng went from being a fringe guy on the roster to a solid depth piece,” wrote Drew Epperley who follows the club for the BigDsoccer blog.

“The fact that we saw him start so many games in a row during the summer months and even when the team was almost back to full health, showed that the coaching staff had faith in the guy.

“He was mostly deployed as an attacking midfielder, typically buzzing around the field with his speed.”

Ntsabeleng, who turns 27 in February and hails from Daveyton, has had three season in MLS after being signed from college soccer.

He was in the South African under-20 side, playing for both University of Johannesburg and Kaizer Chiefs, when he was offered a scholarship to the US.