Gaston Sirino: Listing the Non South Africans to Have Scored the Most Hat Tricks in the PSL Era

• Gaston Sirino scored a hat-trick for Mamelodi Sundowns in their Nedbank Round of 32 tie
• Pollen Ndlanya tops the list as a South African but which foreign players are close behind?
• As many as 33 players have scored two or more hat-tricks in all competitions since 1996

Mamelodi Sundowns' Urugyan winger added to the long list of foreign names in South Africa's hat-trick club.

Gaston Sirino's three goals in the space of 52 minutes against NB La Masia in the Nedbank Cup also extended Masandawana's overall contribution at the top of the teams' list.

PSL legend, Pollen Ndlanya, tops the individual charts with six, closely followed by Richard Henyekane, who scored five hat-tricks in his 11-year career, which was sadly cut short by a motor vehicle accident.

Sports Brief provides a rundown of players born north of the Limpopo or Orange Rivers to score the most trebles in a 90-minute outing in all competitions.

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Most foreign PSL-era hat-tricks

4. Peter Shalulile

Eight non-South Africans have netted two hat-tricks, but Peter Shalulile went one better with three of the best against Marumo Gallants in the Nedbank Cup.

His previous two hat-tricks came back-to-back in April 2022, when he scored in Mamelodi Sundowns' 4-2 win over Moroka Swallows and in a 6-0 win over Golden Arrows.

3. Essau Kanyenda

Jomo Cosmos and Polokwane City benefited from the services of Malawian hero, Essau Kanyenda. 'Black Mamba' scored three hat-tricks on South African soil and also has the record for the most consecutive games with a goal.

While with Jomo Cosmos, he scored 11 goals in seven straight league matches, including a hat-trick and two braces, as per The Nation.

2. Anthony Laffor

The Liberian legend had a stellar 15-year run in South Africa that graced the colours of Jomo Cosmos, SuperSport United, and Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Matsatsantsa would arguably get the best of him as three of four hat-tricks came in blue and white. He scored two of those in 2009, one against Maritzburg United and another in a 4-1 thrashing of Sundowns in the Tshwane Derby.

Laffor grabbed his last SuperSport hat-trick against Santos in 2011 before rounding out his career quartet at Sundowns in a 3-0 win over the University of Pretoria, as per TransferMarkt.

1. Manuel 'Tico-Tico' Bucuane

The prolific Mozambican netted three hat-tricks for Jomo Cosmos and two for SuperSport United, as per Supersport.

'Tico-Tico' praised Pitso Mosimane for the financial advice that would set him up for life. He told KickOff:

"Pitso was a blessing in my life. He insisted that when you get your signing-on fees, pay off your property. He was someone who could see beyond the football match and that is important."

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As of 2022, the 50-year-old Bucuane was living in Maputo, having notched up almost 400 domestic caps, scoring over 130 goals.

Biggest winning margins in South African cups

Sports Brief also recently compiled a list of the most devastating cup defeats, paying homage to Powerlines FC.

The amateurs will always be remembered as the team thrashed by Mamelodi Sundowns in the Northern Cape.

Several other teams have been on the end of double-digit beatings, including a 14-1 score in a two-legged final.