Kanalelo: The safe hands of Sundowns’ success
Namibia’s most capped goalkeeper, Ronnie ‘The Magnet’ Kanalelo, retired with a remarkable club and an international football career. Born at Ondaungilo village in the Ohangwena region, Kanalelo started playing football at Immanuel Ruiters Primary School at Walvis Bay, where he grew up. “I come from a sporting family. It came as no surprise that I […] The post Kanalelo: The safe hands of Sundowns’ success appeared first on The Namibian .
Namibia’s most capped goalkeeper, Ronnie ‘The Magnet’ Kanalelo, retired with a remarkable club and an international football career. Born at Ondaungilo village in the Ohangwena region, Kanalelo started playing football at Immanuel Ruiters Primary School at Walvis Bay, where he grew up. “I come from a sporting family.
It came as no surprise that I ended up being a sportsperson myself. My mother played, coached and umpired netball,” he says. “My two brothers played for Supers Stars and Orlando Pirates, and my other siblings played either netball or did athletics.”
The retired goalie is one of Namibia’s A-listed stars who have enjoyed success both in the then Namibia Premier League and beyond our borders in South Africa. Kanalelo’s football journey also saw him lifting major cup competitions with Eleven Arrows, Black Africa (BA) and South Africa. The towering goalkeeper won a league championship each with Arrows and BA, as well as the Castle Lager Cup, the Metropolitan Cup and the NFA Cup with Black Africa.
Ronnie Kanalelo (right) with Surprise Moriri, Fabian McCarthy and Reneilwe Letsholonyane were part of a CAF A License course graduation ceremony in Botswana in 2024. An Afcon Cup debutant with the Brave Warriors in 1998, Kanalelo is a three-time league winner with Sundowns in South Africa. Additionally, he won the Rothmans Cup and the BOP Save Cup, while he is also a CAF Champions League winner with Sundowns in SA.