I’m so blessed says Kgatlana

University of Western Cape (UWC) and Banyana Banyana striker Thembi Kgatlana (above) will forever cherish 2017, a year which she describes as “blessed”.

This comes after the 20-year old was named in the top three for the Caf African Women’s Playerof-the-Year award, which comes after several other awards she received this year. Kgatlana has been named Sportsperson-ofthe-Year at UWC, Safa Cape Town Women’s Player-of-the-Year, USSA Football Player-of-the-Tournament and top scorer and the Cosafa Women’s Player-of-the-Tournament .

Kgatlana says she is thrilled by the nomination from Caf.

“I am so excited about making the top three finalists, it is something I did not expect this year, but I am happy to have made the final three. Whether I win it or not it will still be a good experience for my career,” said the player.

“It has been a good year for me and Banyana, but next year it will be very busy. I want to continue striking a balance between my studies and the game because 2018 will be a tough year with an international friendly against Sweden coming up in January and the African Women’s Championship qualifiers.”

Kgatlana is looking forward to the awards gala which takes place on January 4 in Accra, Ghana, and she hopes to raise the South African flag high going up against Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala and Gabrielle Onguene of Cameroon.