WeeklySA_AdminQUEST: The Sundowns captain is banking on experience, a winning culture and a demanding domestic campaign to prepare her side for another continental title challenge…
By WSAM Sports Reporter
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies captain Lebohang Ramalepe believes teamwork and the club’s entrenched winning mentality will drive their pursuit of another CAF Women’s Champions League crown.
The South African champions booked their place in the continental finals with a 2–1 victory over ZESCO Ndola Girls in the CAF Women’s Champions League COSAFA qualifier final in Gaborone, securing a third regional title.
For Ramalepe, who tasted continental glory with Banyana Banyana at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, the challenge now is to help turn that experience into collective strength.
“I think it’s a team effort. What I would do with the little experience that I have from winning with Banyana Banyana is share the knowledge I have with my teammates to make sure that when we get to the Champions League, we are prepared and ready.”
Sundowns have established themselves as a formidable force in African women’s club football. That standing brings expectations, but Ramalepe says the pressure to succeed is woven into the club’s identity.
“Once you join Sundowns, you know it’s a club of winners. It’s that thing that always drives us as ladies to make sure we do our best in our domestic league and also compete internationally.”
Maintaining those standards, she believes, also means setting an example for the players who will follow. “Even now, we must continue so that the coming generation also knows and understands that when you get to Sundowns, you must have a winning mentality.”
While continental success is the ambition, Ramalepe insists the foundations must be laid at home. Regular domestic fixtures are giving Sundowns an opportunity to sharpen their combinations and build the match fitness required for the demands of tournament football.
“As a club, we are building so well. I think what’s important also is to take one game at a time. Now the focus is getting match fitness from the league,” she said. “We’re playing week in, week out, so by the time we get to the Champions League the team will be ready and well equipped so that we can compete at our best level.”
Her priorities are equally clear when it comes to individual honours: the team must come first.
Rather than chasing personal recognition, Ramalepe wants Sundowns to concentrate on playing their best football and bringing another trophy home. Individual awards, she believes, can follow collective achievement.
“We just need to put the team first and make sure we do what’s best for the club. The only thing we want to do as a club is to win.”
The defender also welcomes the growing competitiveness of the CAF Women’s Champions League, pointing to improvements in participation and prize money as signs of progress in the women’s game.
However, she cautions that the development of the continental competition must be accompanied by further improvements domestically.
“When it comes to women’s football, there is still a lot of improvement needed,” she said. “When you get to that competition, there’s so much competitiveness.”
With their regional qualification secured, Sundowns’ task is to turn domestic preparation into continental performance — guided by a captain determined to keep the club’s winning tradition alive.
Details of the continental finals had yet to be announced at the time of the supplied report.
