Andile ‘Sticks’ Dlamini (born 2 September 1992) is a South African

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

SAFA Women's League The SAFA Women's League, known as Hollywoodbets Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top flight of women's association football in South Africa. The competition is run by the South African Football Association. History Inter-Provincial Wo ...

club

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

and the South Africa women's national team.

Early life

Andile Dlamini was born on 2 September 1992 in

Tembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa (Dindela), is a large township situated to the north of Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandra and other areas in Edenvale, Kem ...

, a township of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa.

Club career

Andile Dlamini took up professional football after playing against the

South Africa women's national under-20 football team The South Africa women's national under-20 soccer team represents South Africa in international youth women's soccer competitions. The team competed in the women's tournament at the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco. See also * South ...

; she was subsequently selected for the team. Nicknamed "Sticks", she previously played for Phomolong Ladies, and currently for

International career

She made her first appearance for the

South Africa women's national football team The South Africa women's national soccer team, nicknamed ''Banyana Banyana'' (The Girls), is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association. Their first official match was held on 30 May 1993 agai ...

against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

in 2011. Dlamini has routinely been the reserve goalkeeper for the team, with Thokozile Mndaweni and

Roxanne Barker Roxanne Kimberly Barker (born 6 May 1991) is a South African soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club SC Heerenveen and the South Africa women's national team. Early life Pepperdine University Barker trained at the university ...

taking the first time spots. This has meant that although Dlamini has been named to the squads of both the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, United Kingdom, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil, she did not play any time at all during either tournaments. She was disappointed when South Africa were eliminated from the 2015 All Africa Games in the first round through a drawing after each team in the group stage drew all their games. Following the arrival of coach Desiree Ellis, it was suggested that Dlamini could have a better chance of becoming the first choice goalkeeper, especially after Barker was released later than expected for friendlies and the

2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations The 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations was the 12th edition of the biennial international football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the women's national teams of Africa. The tournament was held in Cameroo ...

tournament.

Personal life

Dlamini is a Christian, and reads the

bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

to prepare for football matches.

Honours

South Africa *

Women's Africa Cup of Nations The Women's Africa Cup of Nations, also called the TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons and abbreviated to WAFCON, is an international women's football competition held every two years and sanctioned by the Confe ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, runner-up:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Individual * Women's Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

CAF Women's Team of The Year: 2022

References

External links

* 1992 births Living people People from Tembisa Soccer players from Gauteng South African women's soccer players Women's association football goalkeepers South Africa women's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for South Africa Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players South African Christians Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies F.C. players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players {{SouthAfrica-women-footy-bio-stub