The University of Western Cape recently made history and became South Africa’s second team to book a place in the CAF Women’s Champions League. This, after they beat Gaborone United 9-8 on post-match penalties, following a nail-biting final, to lift the CAF Women’s Champions League 2024 Zonal COSAFA Qualifier trophy in Malawi.
The team was led by coach Thinasonke Mbuli, and captain of UWC FC, Amogelang Motau. The Modimolle-born footballer says, when they departed for Malawi, they had a solid mandate from their coach.
“Before going into the tournament coach T made it clear that we were going to play five games, she’s been saying that from the get-go, and we knew that we need to get to the finals, and the constant reminder that we’ve been wanting this for almost three years.”
University of the Western Cape FC Captain, Amogelang Motau
“We’ve been wanting to play COSAFA that’s why we were chasing to win the league and we got so close each and every but we never made it so when Sundowns won the Champions League we were hoping that we get the opportunity to go there and we did and we grabbed it with both hands.”
Motau, a former captain of the SA U17 and U20 teams, has over the years built a name as a key player in any squad she’s a part of. She says the trip meant a lot to her but highlights that having participated in major tournaments before helped her as well as the experience-gained by some of her fellow teammates over the years.
“I’ve been in this position before so I was expecting that type of pressure. But mine was just to do what I always do, be a servant to my teammates and just lead the team graciously. But even going into the tournament and before that in our team, we always encourage leadership for every player on the team. So I think it’s made easier when you have other teammates who’ve also had experience with such big tournaments where there’s a lot of pressure.”
This tournament had so much at stake and you could tell by the sheer determination of the teams participating. They all wanted to see one more team representing their nation in the continents biggest competition for women in club football.
However, it was the incredible resilience that took the South African side beyond the line even after losing their first encounter of the tournament 1-0 to Green Buffaloes from Zambia. They came back with a resounding 3-0 victory against Namibian side, FC Ongos. To wrap up the group stages they won 2-1 against Herentals Queens.
“I just knew that I just had to remind the girls to constantly show up and remind them how much this meant to us and above all just serve on the team, because I think that’s how I lead. That’s how I choose to lead, I don’t always have to be in the front, but just to always encourage my teammates.”
“I think one thing that I did a lot on the field is just to remind the girls that we’ve been wanting this and this is the opportunity that we prayed for, and we just need to show up and show that we wanted it so badly. We want to compete in CAF, so just to constantly remind them of that.”
In the semi-finals Motau and the team showed off immense skill in front of goal by thrashing Young Buffaloes from Eswatini 6-0 to progress to the final.
The final was the biggest test of the tournament pitting to sides that were not ready to relinquish the title at the last hurdle.
Motau adds: “I mean, even in the last game, I had no gas left in my legs, and I just knew that it was time for me to raise my hand to tell the coach that she can substitute me, and bring on someone new. So it wasn’t much of a change in terms of the mentality, as a captain going in there. I just honestly did what I always do for the team.”
The University side join fellow South African counterparts, Mamelodi Sundowns at the finals who qualify as defending champions.
“Having two teams representing South Africa in CAF later this year is massive. It speaks to how much women’s football is growing in our country, and how competitive our league is, not only in the Southern region, but we’re also capable to compete at the continental level.”
“I just think that also shows that the more investment we can put into Women’s Football, the more fruitful it will become because this Country is just filled with talent. And also a massive shout out to Hollywoodbets, our sponsor for believing in us and having a vision with our League. Hopefully we can get more sponsors and just drive this thing forward.”
She also touches on how the senior national women’s team will reap rewards from the Blues as well as Banyana Ba Style playing in the CAF inter-club competition.
“Some of us that have been to the National Team and some people that haven’t been there can get also a chance to showcase their talents and hopefully be picked for the national side. It will also help a lot in terms of experience and opening opportunities for other girls as well.”
A lot has been said about the professionalisation of women’s football in South Africa. After Banyana Banyana’s WAFCON victory and a historic performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup many of us hoped that, these feats would speed up the drive to a professional league for women. We are still waiting.
Motau, started playing soccer with boys in her community at age seven before joining a Sasol League team called Kanatla Ladies in Polokwane, weighs in on this important conversation.
“Professionalising women’s football in our country would propel us so much as women’s football in our country because the talent, there’s no question about that. There’s so much talent and we’ve been able to do so much with little resources.”
“We can only imagine what would happen if we actually have the resources to do better and to focus mainly on football and not have players working while playing. We would have players being able to just focus solely on football.”
“It would also enable us to compete with the rest of the world because we’d be just focusing on football,” continues Motau. “Over the past few years, you’ve seen Banyana go to the round of 16, win Wafcon with the little resources that we have.”
The University of the Western Cape prides itself on giving its students the best of both worlds – success in achieving their academic goals and in their sporting careers, too – and Motau has taken full advantage of that.
Last year the Banyana Banyana star was capped with her Bachelor of Administration degree. She highlights though some of the challenges of juggling both tertiary education and being a footballer at the highest level. Not just for her but her teammates as well.
“Being a Student Athlete is one of the most difficult things to do, to be quite honest with you. I am personally done with my degree and when I look at some of my teammates, I can’t imagine how they can do it because even when we were doing it, it was just Hollywoodbets, but now there’s more competitions coming up. We’ve had Varsity Cup, we still have USSAs coming, and now we’ve added CAF. So that just makes it so much more difficult.”
“But I think just having discipline and being able to manage your time well. I don’t think there will ever be a perfect balance between the two. I think sometimes when you prioritise the other, the other one will actually struggle a little bit, so I just think sometimes as Coach has previously mentioned in the interviews that some of the girls have to miss certain training sessions. They have to miss certain meetings so that they can focus on their academics.
“At a certain time, because at the level that we’re playing Women’s Football in South Africa, you would think that we’re doing it professionally because of the demands of it. But I think the girls have been doing well. We’ve had some graduates on the team, which means that they’ve been quite disciplined and credits to them.”
Coach Mbuli and her team are now back home, confidently ready to tackle the Hollywoodbets Super League as they continue to chase Sundowns Ladies at the top of the HBSL standing, while also preparing for the tough CAF competition that lies ahead.
The skipper says winning in Malawi will bode well for the team: “Winning COSAFA and qualifying for CAF has definitely given us a boost as a team in terms of confidence, because it has shown us how capable we are and we’re able to test ourselves in such difficult conditions.
“We’ve come so close to winning the League so that’s still a goal of ours, and we’re working towards that. We came back from Malawi tired and fatigued as we were. We got onto the road and we already played our first League game since Malawi, and we’ve won that. So I think it’s something that’s a work in progress. Hopefully we can still win the League. It’s still a goal of ours. And yeah, we’ll see how the year goes.”
Motau has been a star at in club and international football but she’s not done yet.
“My dream as a player has always been to play for the National Team, which I’m doing now. But again, that journey hasn’t been easy. It has been filled with so many ups and downs, but I’m still holding on and working on myself as a player and try to improve as much as I can so that I can actually be a contributor on the team and get some minutes. Things are improving.”
“Another dream of mine has always been to play overseas and just test myself as a player to see where I’m at and how far I can take it and also just to play competitively at that level, I think has always been a dream of mine. Over the years I’ve just you know, put it in God’s hands, because I don’t think everybody’s meant or will get the opportunity to play there. But I’m still hopeful that that can come true and I can hopefully go test myself in a different country and go compete.”
Congratulations to University of Western Cape, coach Thina Mbuli and her technical team as well as captain Amogelang Motau and the rest of the team.
Main Photo Caption: Amogelang Motau recently captained the UWC FC side that made history in Malawi. She speaks to Lonwabo Nkohla about that feat, professionalisation of women’s football, being a student athlete as well as her ambitions in the Banyana squad. All Photos: Samuel Shivambu
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
