A young star from a small village in Venda is on the verge of fulfilling his wish in the football world. Maanda Makhado is a footballer who plays for Marumo Gallants FC (Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila). He started his football career at a young age and has now matured in the game as one of the best young defenders in the league.

The defender has played for multiple clubs, some of which are DSTV premiership teams, Murunwa FC and Greenway academy. The rising star Maanda Makhado, born 2000 June 6, at Thoyandou Tshilidzini hospital, in a small village of Venda, South Africa, was raised by both parents alongside his older brother who was also a footballer but unfortunately did not reach a professional level.

Maanda’s football career started the age of twelve, at Murunwa Football Club  in Louis Strichardt where he played for three years. He moved back to Thoyandou in 2015, and  joined a home team called Greenway Sports Academy where he spent most of his youth career.

Maanda signed for Black Leopards FC in 2018 where he captained their reserve team after being scouted by former Black Leopards and Free State stars midfielder, Mongezi Bobe.

He recently parted ways with TTM which is now called Marumo Gallants FC and currently he is a free agent and doesn’t want to disclose information about the new team as the contract is  yet to be finalized. The team has recently released many players after the name was changed the reason of parting ways with players is not yet confirmed. According to Sowetanlive  “the club name was changed when the previous owner sold the club to Limpopo businessman Ditonkana Abram Sello due to financial problems”.

In spite of lacking pace, Maanda acts fast when it comes to decision-making. He was often compared to Andile Jali by his former high school teammates. His wish is to represent Bafana Bafana at a professional level.” He added by saying “I am Manchester City fan (an English Premier League team) and with God’s grace and determination I hope one day I could join them”.

With a million dollar smile, he praised few of first team players who he used to train with at Black leopards, “There are first team players who always encourage me. Players like Donald Makgetlwa, Thabiso Mokoena, Lesedi Kapinga and I believe that I will go far.” He said.

He went on to say “There is so much variance between Academy league and professional league. One of the difference is that the professional league is the high level, so you have to think and react quickly. In the school league, you have too much time on the ball, and it doesn’t demand quick thinking.

Also, there’s a lot of running in the school league, whereas in the professional decision-making is more important than just running with the ball.” He said.

Maanda expressed that off field, he enjoys spending time with his mother and close friends. He spoke with confidence from the bottom of his heart that he would like to work as hard as Khuliso Mudau and Marks Munyai because they inspire him a lot with what they have achieved so far.