Banyana Banyana Midfielder Seals Move To Portuguese Side

South Africa midfielder Thembi Kgatlana has joined Portuguese top tier side Benfica Feminino for the rest of the 2020 season.

The 23-year-old’s contract with Chinese Super League side Beijing BG Phoneix was due to expire at the end of the season.

The 2018 African Women’s Player of the Year says she is ready for a new adventure and has already set eyes on winning the championship trophy.

“I’m very excited to sign with Benfica. I thank the team, the President, and everyone for giving me the opportunity to come to Portugal and Benfica,” Kgatlana told the club’s official website.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “Benfica is a big club in Portugal and in the world. I’ve had the opportunity to see history and records, and it’s a great honour for me to be part of such a big club.   [/perfectpullquote]

“I am 23 years old, I come from South Africa, I play for the national team and now also for Benfica. I have 15 years of football, divided by the youth and senior classes.”

The club’s vice-president, Fernando Tavares heaped praise on the new signing saying that they have high expectations of her.

“We have high expectations for Thembi. She was considered the best African of the Year in 2018, is a player with very strong characteristics, is very fast, can perform two positions on the field, as a striker or as a winger.

“With this signing, we will add other solutions to Benfica’s offensive line, with respect to our season goals.”

Kgatlana has won 18 international caps and played in all three of South Africa games as they made their debut at the Women’s World Cup last year.

Earlier this month, she was in the running to defend her Confederation of African Football Women’s Player of the Year title but lost out to Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala.