Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies midfielder Boitumelo Rabale believes that her experience of
playing international football will come in handy as the Brazilians gear up for the inaugural
edition of the 2021 TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League to be staged in Cairo,
Egypt. The maiden edition of the continent’s premier women’s tournament begins this Friday,
5th of November and will run until the 19th of November, 2021.
Rabale’s journey to Egypt has 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 since then.
She racked up significant success at the 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 at the National Junior College Atletic 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.
The 25-year-old midfield dynamo believes her previous taste of international football will come
in handy as The Brazilians 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 my experience of playing outside South Africa is going to help 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 is a massive
boost for us. This is because we are going to be facing different opponents during the CAF
competition and the level of football will be different from what we are regularly used to during
the Hollywoodbets Super League. So we have to be mentally strong and be ready to sacrifice
for those who are yet to have a taste of international football,” said Rabale.
Boitumelo who is fondly known as ‘Queen’ has also dazzled for her nation, Lesotho on the
international front. Presently, Rabale is the country’s football captain and will be hoping to make
her international experience count in the Land of the Pharaohs.
Banyana Ba Style who are already in Egypt will face Kenya’s Vihiga in their opening encounter
of the continental showpiece on Saturday 6th of November. Three days later, Sundowns Ladies
face Rivers Angels before wrapping up the group phase with a clash against the Moroccan side
AS FAR on the 12th of November.
Go make us proud Ladies!
