Thembi Kgatlana scored a crucial goal that helped her team, Tigres UANL Femenil, defeat Rayadas de Monterrey to win Liga MX’s esteemed Super Cup.
Tigres UANL Femenil, the 2023 Apertura champions, faced off against the 2023/24 Clausura champions, Rayadas de Monterrey.
The women’s Liga MX follows a similar schedule to the men’s league, with two tournaments each season: the Apertura from July to December and the Clausura from January to May. The champions of each tournament compete in the Super Cup match.
This match was the second leg of the Super Cup finals, which in the first leg ended square on the scoreline.
Rayadas took the lead with a goal in the first half, but Kgatlana equalised in the 50th minute. Tigres’ Stephanie Mayor then scored to put the team ahead after 69 minutes.
However, Seoposenwe equalised nine minutes later. Nayeli Rangel netted the decisive goal in the 87th minute, securing a 3-2 victory for Tigres and handing Kgatlana her first Mexican league silverware.
After the game, Kgatlana remarked, “I’m so happy, so emotional, because three weeks ago we couldn’t qualify to go to the final.”
However, we played in the final today versus Rayadas when we were at home with our family.
“We didn’t play well in the first half, but we showed that we wanted to win as soon as we didn’t show up in the second half.”
Kgatlana joined Tigres UANL Femenil from the United States’ Racing Louisville FC in 2023, in a record transfer worth $275,000 (R5 million). This is the second-highest transfer fee in Mexican league history and a record for Racing Louisville.
During her time with Racing Louisville, Kgatlana made 18 appearances, scoring two goals and providing two assists in all competitions in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
Kgatlana and Seoposenwe are members of the South African national team, Banyana Banyana, which won the African Women’s Cup of Nations in 2022.
