Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela reached a rare milestone at the club after racking up 200 appearances in their 2-1 win over Chippa United on Wednesday evening eSgodini.
Maela, 32, came off the bench in the dying moments of the Chilli Boys match to achieve the rare feet, with former skipper Happy Jele having featured the most with close to 400 appearances for the Soweto giants.
The Witbank-born left-back joined Pirates in 2017 from Richards Bay, with his debut for the club coming in October 2017 against Lamontville Golden Arrows.
In his reaction, becoming part of a few select to have reached 200 outings for the former African champions, Maela admitted that it wasn’t what he had thought of.
“When I joined the Academy, my first goal was to improve as a player as much as I can. I didn’t even think that one day I’d be playing for the first team,” he told the club’s official website.
“To get the opportunity to represent the Club so many times has been an honour to me and a privilege. I dedicate this milestone to all the players from the Academy who didn’t have the opportunity to play for the First Team. This is for them.
In conclusion, Maela spoke of fond memories that he will forever cherish.
“One of my favourite memories is scoring against Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby,” he added.
“That memory will stay with me for a very long time, and obviously becoming the Club’s captain. That was a huge milestone for me and an honour to be voted by my teammates.
”It shows the contribution that I’ve made to the Club and how they see me as a human being and as a leader.
“So that was also one of my favourite memories, as well as lifting trophies. As a development player, it’s great when you get the opportunity to play for the First Team, and they name you as captain, then you go on and lift trophies.
“I think for me it’s to help the younger players as much as I can, to help my teammates when they need me, and to contribute as much as I can to the team, to the Club, and also to try and improve because we can never stop improving.
”So what I’m hoping to achieve is to help the younger ones settle into the setup and realise their potential,” he further said.
