Ramatlhakwana rules out Zebras return
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Tuesday March 14, 2017 15:22
Ramatlhakwana joined Magosi at the beginning of the season, but only managed to start playing in January following a registration hiccup.
Despite sitting almost four months on the sidelines, Ramatlhakwana started his Chiefs’ career with a bang and scored a brace on his return against Nico United. To date he has scored eight goals, just four behind the leading top goal scorer, Terrence Mandaza.
With Zebras still struggling in front of goals, Ramatlhakwana has said his time with the Zebras is over. “With the Zebras I am done.
It is time for others to do it,” he told Mmegi Sport. Ramatlhakwana was one of the key Zebras players during Stanley Tshosane era. His goals helped Zebras qualify for their first ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012.
At the time, he was without a club but still managed to stun the likes of Tunisia to help Zebras reach AFCON finals.
He spent the last two seasons at Rollers on loan from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) side, Don Bosco. Although he scored some crucial goals and helped Rollers win the Premiership title, he faced competition for the starting line up with Namibian striker, Jerome Louis before he left. Mandaza then arrived from South Africa in the middle of the season.
Ramatlhakwana then parted ways with Rollers and joined Chiefs. Since his arrival at Chiefs, the Kgatleng giants seem to have found their footing following a near disastrous start to the season.
Coach Bongani Mafu decried shortage of manpower upfront when the season started. In January they managed to sign Tendai Nyamadzawo and Ramatlhakwana and have lost only one game since then. “It is always nice to score goals as a striker.
I spent half of the season training with the team everyday and that helped me a lot,” he said. Ramatlhakwana said his aim is to help Magosi finish in the top four since they did not have a bright start to the season.
Ramatlhakwana is one of the few players in the country who have managed to secure contracts abroad. Besides Don Bosco, he has also played for Cape Town Santos. But Ramatlhakwana stated that he is not considering going back abroad. “I am enjoying my last years of playing and I have been out of the country for the last decade,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Zebras play Tanzania away in a friendly match on March 25, their first match in six months.