Mbulelo Mabizela started his career using his mother's surname Oldjohn, but later preferred to be known as Mabizela, the surname of his father, Dumisani, who played soccer for AmaZulu.
20 Facts About Mbulelo Mabizela
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Mbulelo Mabizela scored his only goal for the club on his debut after coming on as a substitute in a league match against Leicester City in October 2003.
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Mbulelo Mabizela made only nine appearances in total for the club, scoring one goal.
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Mbulelo Mabizela was invited to train with London-based club Fulham after his release, but was rejected by the club supposedly after being considered overweight.
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Mbulelo Mabizela joined Norwegian club Valerenga in March 2005, six months after being without club and spent a season at the Norwegian club where he played infrequently and won the national title.
6.
Mbulelo Mabizela was later acquitted of the drunk driving charges.
7.
Mbulelo Mabizela had his contract terminated in July 2009 after failing to show up for training, but was given a second chance by the new coach Steve Komphela.
8.
On 11 August 2011, after being linked with a number of clubs including Orlando Pirates and Golden Arrows, Mbulelo Mabizela signed a two-year deal for Bidvest Wits on a free transfer and was given the squad number 3.
9.
In May 2012, Bidvest Wits held their end of season awards evening and Mbulelo Mabizela was named the club's Player of the Year at the function which was held at the Southern Sun in Monte Casino.
10.
In October 2013 Mbulelo Mabizela began training with Mpumalanga Black Aces.
11.
In June 2014, the Black Aces spokesman Gordon Masondo confirmed that Mbulelo Mabizela's contract had been renewed until 30 June 2016.
12.
On 26 January 2015, Mbulelo Mabizela signed for AmaZulu, which was at the bottom of the table, on a short-term contract.
13.
Mbulelo Mabizela was first called to the South Africa national team by Carlos Queiroz in November 2001 after only 3 months of PSL experience as a late replacement to Nasief Morris for a friendly match against Egypt, against who he made his debut as a right-back.
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Mbulelo Mabizela had a poor performance as a right-back during the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations and was left out of the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad coached by Jomo Sono.
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Mbulelo Mabizela was recalled in September 2002 by Ephraim Mashaba as a centre-back, earning back his place in the international squad and in June 2003 he was the youngest captain ever for the national team with the age of 22.
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Mbulelo Mabizela scored a brace against Cape Verde during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification.
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Mbulelo Mabizela was dropped from the national squad after going AWOL from the national squad in October 2008 before a match against Malawi.
18.
Mbulelo Mabizela went back to the headlines in January 2010 after claiming to be "better" than other defender that were in the national side, a view that was shared by commentators and fans.
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Mbulelo Mabizela later wrote a letter of apology requesting to be given another chance but was never called to the national side again.
20.
In 2018 Mbulelo Mabizela obtained his Safa coaching D-licence qualification and was coaching at the Local Football Association in KwaZulu-Natal.