Linda Motlhalo: The South African magican nicknamed 'Ronaldinho' is Morocco's nightmare

'Randfontein Ronaldinho.' Some nicknames stick to a player better than a jersey. That of Linda Motlhalo, forged in the streets of Randfontein, says everything about her football: a feint that throws defenders off balance, a burst of speed that surprises, a reading of the game that is always two steps ahead.

This Saturday, at the Moulay El Hassan stadium in Rabat, the South African attacking midfielder faces Morocco again in the quarter-finals of the women's AFCON, exactly four years to the day after shattering Morocco's dream in the final.

It all began in Brandvlei, a dusty village on the outskirts of Randfontein, west of Johannesburg. "Brandvlei is a very dusty village where I grew up, where I usually played with the boys. I remember, when night fell, my mother would come looking for me because I never even checked the time," she recently told CAF.

Football runs in the Motlhalo family: Linda's father, Johannes, chased the dream of turning professional without success before becoming a coach; her uncle was a goalkeeper for the legendary South African club Kaizer Chiefs between 1970 and 1985.

It was by accompanying her father to training grounds that everything changed. "I grew up in a football-oriented family. My father was a coach, and I think when I was six, when he went to coach the boys, he would just give me a ball, and I would juggle with it. I think that's when he realised that this is what made me happy. And that's how it all started. When I play football, I forget my problems. It's my joy, it's my happiness," she confides.

A goal on her debut

Spotted at a very young age, she joined youth national teams and then the club JVW FC, founded by legend Janine van Wyk. "I remember when Linda joined the national team with coach Vera, because even then, she was a special player.

"I call Refiloe Jane the conductor, and I call Linda the magician. She has always been excellent for us. Every time she steps onto the pitch, she leaves us in awe. She scores decisive goals at decisive moments," sums up Desiree Ellis, coach of the Banyana Banyana, who has followed her since the very beginning.

Her captain, Refiloe Jane, also remembers the skinny kid seen in the youth teams: "Small in stature, slight, but a player full of talent, and a player for the future. I remember watching her in the under-17s and under-20s, and I could tell she was one for the future." Motlhalo earned her first cap in 2016, at just 17, and scored on her debut in a 2-2 draw against Cameroon.

At 1.63 m, Motlhalo has never had the typical build of an international midfielder, but she has turned it into a strength. With a very low centre of gravity, quick feet, and the ability to pivot in tight spaces without losing balance, she makes up for what she lacks in height with agility, unsettling defences much bigger than her.

The penalty queen

At the 2016 WAFCON, held in Cameroon, she scored her first continental goal at 18: an 84th-minute strike against Egypt that sealed a 5-0 win and qualification for the semi-finals in Limbe.

Since then, she has built a reputation as an almost flawless penalty taker, to the point that the South African press nicknamed her "the African penalty queen". Refiloe Jane confirms: "She is one of the team's penalty takers, and she decided herself to take on that responsibility. She has shown a lot of courage, determination, and hard work to achieve everything she has in her life and in football."

In 2018, at 19, she left JVW to join Houston Dash in the NWSL, recruited by Vera Pauw, former Banyana Banyana coach turned manager of the American club. "I'm speechless. I don't know what to say, it just feels like a dream. I just want to keep working hard and learn from everyone around me," she said at the time.

Pauw, for her part, was full of praise: "Linda is one of the most promising talents in women's football right now. Her qualities complement the talent we have in our squad. She will bring variety to our attack, and that will allow the other players to give their best."

After a season in Houston, she moved to China and Beijing BG Phoenix, where she reunited with her best friend and compatriot Thembi Kgatlana. The language barrier? Solved as a team. "Luckily, I was with my best friend, Thembi, and with the language barrier, we had a translator, so it was easier for us. What I enjoyed most in China was the food!" she recalls with a smile.

A Swedish breakthrough

In 2020, she headed to Sweden and Djurgårdens IF. Her debut couldn't have been more spectacular: coming off the bench in a Stockholm derby against AIK, she scored twice to give her team the win. The rest followed suit: voted best new signing of the year by her teammates in her first season, extended in 2022, she kept scoring crucial goals, like her 85th-minute strike that secured a 2-1 win over Vittsjo after three winless games.

Her coach at the time, Jean Balawo, praised her maturity: "Despite her young age, she's a leader on the pitch, and Linda has also faced two tough and demanding challenges in the United States and China, on top of having played more than forty international matches."

In 2022, she was part of the squad that gave South Africa its very first continental title, again in Morocco, with a 2-1 win in the final against the Lionesses of Atlas. A year later, she moved to Scotland and Glasgow City, where she became champion in her first season. Then came the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where the draw gave her a special twist: South Africa started the tournament against Sweden, her adopted country for three years. 

Already a centurion

"We are clearly the underdogs," she said before the match, "because we know Sweden, they're number two in the world now, they've had a great run, and our first match is against them. We have to win a game, and do our best."

A few days later, against Argentina, it was again she who opened the scoring in the 30th minute, set up by Kgatlana, in a match that ended in a spectacular 2-2 draw and put the South Africans on the path to their historic qualification for the round of 16.

After a stint in the United States with Racing Louisville in 2024, she returned to Glasgow City, where she still plays. On July 26th, against Tanzania in the opening match of this AFCON, she earned her 100th cap with the Banyana Banyana, joining the very exclusive club of South African football centurions.

But longevity hasn't dulled her hunger. "I never take anything for granted, because I know there are so many talented players across Africa," she said recently. This Saturday, at 27, the player Desiree Ellis calls "the magician" will have the chance to add another chapter to her already rich story, against a Moroccan side still seeking revenge for the 2022 final defeat.

Follow South Africa vs Morocco with Flashscore