Kamohelo Mokotjo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 07/2017
Personal information
Date of birth
11 March 1991
Place of birth
Kutloanong Location, Odendaalsrus, South Africa
Height
1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position
Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
Brentford
South Africa
Brentford FC Season 2017-
Article
Youth career
SuperSport United
2000–2008
Senior career
SuperSport United
2008-2009
1x apps / 0x goal
Feyenoord
2009-2013
35x apps / 0x goal
→ Excelsior (loan)
2009-2010
25x apps / 1x goal
PEC Zwolle
2013-2014
27x apps / 2x goals
FC Twente
2014-2017
97x apps / 3x goals
Brentford
2017-
0x apps / 0x goal
National team
South Africa U12
South Africa U20
South Africa U23
2011
South Africa
2012-
6x apps / 0x goal
(* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:51, 7 July 2017 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:32, 4 December 2016 (UTC)
Kamohelo Mokotjo is a South African professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Brentford.
He came to prominence in the Netherlands with FC Twente and is a current South Africa international.
Club career
SuperSport United
A defensive midfielder, Mokotjo began his career in his native South Africa with Supersport United.
He made one senior appearance for the club, as a substitute for Shane Poggenpoel in a 1:0 defeat to Santos on 20 December 2008.
He was an unused substitute on three other occasions during the 2008-09 season and departed the club in August 2009.
Feyenoord
On 28 August 2009, Mokotjo and SuperSport United teammate Kermit Erasmus transferred to Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord.
After spending the remainder of the 2009-10 season away on loan, he won his maiden call into the first team squad for a Europa League play-off round second leg match versus Gent on 26 August 2010 and remained an unused substitute during the 2:0 defeat.
Mokotjo made his debut for the club with a start in a KNVB Cup third round shootout defeat to Roda JC Kerkrade one month later.
In an injury-affected 2010–11 season, he made 15 appearances.
Mokotjo was utilised mostly as a substitute and as a utility player by manager Ronald Koeman during the first half of the 2011–12 season, which prompted the suggestion that he would leave the club in search of first team football.
Mokotjo remained at De Kuip and set up a goal in a key 4:2 De Klassieker victory over Ajax on 29 January 2012, which prompted the club to award him a new two-year contract.
Despite suffering from another niggling injury, Mokotjo finished the 2011-12 season with 22 appearances and had helped Feyenoord to a second-place finish in the Eredivisie.
Mokotjo was largely frozen out of the first team squad during the 2012-13 season, due to injuries and concerns over his rate of development.
Despite rumours that he would go out on loan or leave the club permanently during the January transfer window,
Mokotjo remained with the club throughout the season, hut made just one appearance, as a 90th-minute substitute in a 3:2 victory over ADO Den Haag on 16 December 2012.
Mokotjo departed Feyenoord in May 2013, having made 38 appearances in three seasons as a first team player with the club.
Excelsior (loan)
After his arrival at Feyenoord in August 2009, Mokotjo was immediately loaned to Eerste Divisie club Excelsior for the remainder of the 2009-10 season.
International duty meant that he had to wait until 16 October to make his debut, which came as a 46th-minute substitute for Roland Bergkamp during a 3:0 win over PEC Zwolle.
Mokotjo scored the first senior goal of his career on 26 February 2010, in a 2:1 win over De Graafschap.
He made 30 appearances and scored one goal in a successful season, which ended with Excelsior winning promotion to the Eredivisie through the promotion/relegation playoffs.
PEC Zwolle
On 10 May 2013, Mokotjo transferred to Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle.
Despite some injury troubles, he had a successful first season at the MAC³PARK Stadion, making 33 appearances, scoring two goals and winning the first silverware of his career, the KNVB Cup, which qualified the club for the Europa League.
For his performances during the season, he was was nominated for the Most Valuable Eredivisie Player award.
Mokotjo's first appearance of the 2014-15 season turned out to be his last for the club, a 1:0 victory over Ajax in the 2014 Johan Cruyff Shield, in which he set up Stef Nijland to score the Bluefingers' goal.
He left the club on 8 August 2014, having made 34 appearances and scored two goals in just over one season at the MAC³PARK Stadion.
FC Twente
On 8 August 2014, Mokotjo joined Eredivisie club FC Twente on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, which was rumoured to be a club record.
He had a solid first season at De Grolsch Veste, making 40 appearances and scoring one goal as Twente finished in mid-table.
Mokotjo was again a mainstay in the team during the 2015-16 season and only missed matches for personal reasons.
Following the departure of Felipe Gutiérrez, Mokotjo was named as captain for the 2016-17 season and he made 33 appearances and scored one goal during a campaign in which the Tukkers would have qualified for the Eredivisie European competition playoffs, had the club not been in the middle of a ban from playing in European competitions.
He left the club in July 2017, having made 105 appearances and scored three goals during three seasons at De Grolsch Veste.
Brentford
On 7 July 2017, Mokotjo moved to England to join Championship club Brentford on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be €1 million.
The transfer completed a two-year scouting process, with previous transfer bids having failed due to work permit issues.
International career
Mokotjo captained South Africa's U12 national team to victory at the 2003 Danone Nations Cup in France.
He was a member of the South Africa U20 squad that competed at the 2009 U20 World Cup and he made one appearance at the tournament, playing the opening 66 minutes of the team's 2:1 defeat to Ghana in the round of 16.
Mokotjo appeared for the U23 team during its unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Mokotjo made his senior debut for South Africa with an injury-time substitute appearance in a 2:0 friendly win over Mozambique on 11 September 2012.
He made four further appearances over the following three years before announcing his retirement from international football in April 2016, citing "that current circumstances are not conducive to for me to break into the Bafana line-up".
Mokotjo returned to the team in 2017, with a start in a 3:1 friendly win over Guinea-Bissau on 25 March 2017.
Personal life
In 2010, Mokotjo revealed that in order to be a professional footballer, he moved out his family home at age 12.
He received Dutch citizenship in December 2016 and subsequently lost his South African citizenship, but regained it in March 2017.