Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies' Boitumelo Rabale will be back in action in Morocco this weekend for the fourth edition of the CAF Women's Champions League (November 9-23) and is as motivated as ever.
Having won it all with Banyana Ba Style, including the club's fifth straight HollywoodBets Super League title and the 2023 CAFWCL, the Lesotho national team captain is now motivated by a desire to catch the eyes of clubs in Europe, particularly Spain.
"I'd like to see myself overseas - maybe LaLiga (Liga F). That's where I want to be. That's what I'm hoping - (that the Champions League can put her on their radar)," Rabale told ESPN after she was named South African Football Journalists' Association (SAFJA) Women's Footballer of the Year.
"[Winning the CAFWCL] was a huge feeling because we represent not only South Africa, but all of Africa, so dominating in CAF was a special feeling."
Rabale joined The Brazilians in 2021. Previously, she played for Emmanuel FC and Likhosatsana FC in her home country, Lesotho, Bloemfontein Celtic in South Africa, and Lewis and Clark Community College in Illinois, USA.
On whether or not she thought she could make a career out of it when she played with her brothers as a child, she said: "No, not really. I just played because my brothers were playing, so I felt like it was a good thing to do. I didn't know I could make [a career] like this.
"I realised [I could make it far] in 2011, when I started playing for the national team. That's when I realised I could go and play for bigger clubs outside Lesotho."
According to Rabale, the league in South Africa is becoming more competitive. Sundowns will be joined at this year's CAFWCL by fellow South Africans side the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
She said: "When I first came to South Africa, it was not competitive at all, but now there are like five teams competing for the title, so it's very tough, because it's not as easy as it used to be for us [Sundowns]."
Sundowns are at the forefront of the move to professionalise women's football in South Africa. The HollywoodBets Super League is only semi-professional, but Sundowns are the closest to a fully professional outfit that the country has.
For Rabale, at least, the sport is a full-time job: "At Sundowns, it's a full-time job... We train two times [a day], maybe in the morning and the afternoon."
Sundowns are in Group B at the CAFWCL alongside Egypt's FC Masar, Ethiopia's CBE and Nigeria's Edo Queens. The top two sides will advance to the semi-finals alongside their counterparts in Group A.
Of the three previous editions of the CAFWCL, Sundowns have won two. They beat Ghana's Hasaacas Ladies 2-0 in the final in 2021, but lost 4-0 to Morocco's AS FAR in the 2022 final.
Sundowns won back their crown with a 3-0 win over SC Casablanca last year, with Rabale scoring in the final.
Sundowns Ladies will start their title defence against Masar on Sunday Nov 10 at 4pm CAT (2pm GMT).