Chris Theko
Lesotho international and the senior national women’s soccer team Mehalalitoe captain, Boitumelo Rabale has made history with her club South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies by clinching the inaugural Confederations of African Football (CAF) Women’s Champion’s league with a 2-0 win over Ghana’s Hasacas Ladies on Friday.
The 25-year-old midfield dynamo said that previous taste of international football came in handy as The Brazilians used that to square off against some of the finest ladies’ teams across Africa.
“I am very thankful to be part of this team which has a couple of international players. I believe that the experience of playing outside South Africa helped the team as a unit because
this is the first-ever edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League.
“Some of the members of the team have also played internationally with the Banyana Banyana team which was a massive boost for us. We faced different opponents during the CAF competition and the level of football was always expected to be different from what we are regularly used to during
the Hollywoodbets Super League,†said Rabale.
The maiden edition of the continent’s premier women’s tournament began on Friday, November 5 up to November 19 in Cairo, Egypt.
Rabale’s journey to Egypt had been a largely exciting and successful one.
As a young girl growing up in Lesotho, Rabale often played with boys of her age instead of other girls. When she eventually played with her peers, her quality shone and her career has been on an upward trajectory ever since.
She racked up significant success at club level in Lesotho and South Africa before securing a scholarship to study in the United States of America in 2018.
While in the States, the highly talented midfielder enjoyed considerable success most notably with Lewis and Clark Community
College (LCCC), where she was named the 2020 National Junior College Women’s Soccer Player of the Year after finishing as top scorer with 57 goals and 33 assists to help the Trailblazers to a third-place finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division National tournament in Florida.
Her fine form earned her a move to Mamelodi Sundowns earlier this year and she has thrived ever since.
Banyana Ba Style as the team is popularly known, won 1-0 against Kenya’s Vihiga in their opening encounter on Saturday November 6, before edging Rivers Angels by the same margin and wrapped-up the group stage with a draw against the Moroccan side on November 12.
In the semi-finals, they drew 0-0 against Malabo Kings but won the match 5-4 on penalties to secure a place in the finals where they thumped Hasaacas 2-0.