Jerome "Jay-Jay" Ramatlhakwana (born 29 May 1985) is a

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

professional

footballer 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 lea ...

who currently plays for

Township Rollers Township Rollers Football Club is a football club based in Gaborone, Botswana. Rollers are also known as Popa, The Blues or Tse Tala, the official nicknames of the club. The club is also often referred to as Mapalastina, a nickname that develop ...

as a striker.

Club career

Born in

Lobatse Lobatse is a town in south-eastern Botswana, 70 kilometres south of the capital Gaborone, situated in a valley running north towards Gaborone and close to the border with South Africa. Lobatse has a population of 29,772 as of 2022. The town is ...

, Ramatlhakwana has played in Botswana for

Mogoditshane Fighters Mogoditshane Fighters are a football (soccer) club from the Mogoditshane in Botswana. The club's nickname is "The Brazilians". Achievements *Mascom Premier League: 4 ** 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 * Botswana Challenge Cup: 3 ** 1999, 2000, 2003 * ...

and

Mochudi Centre Chiefs Mochudi Centre Chiefs Sporting Club are a professional football club based in Mochudi, Botswana, who play in the Botswana Premier League after acquiring the license from Masitaoka. Thus, the Centre Chiefs are back on the highest level following t ...

, in Cyprus for

APOP Kinyras Peyias APOP Kinyras FC (, ''Athlitikos Podosfairikos Omilos Pegeias Kinyras'', "Athletic Football Club Peyia Kinyras") was a Cypriot football club from the village of Peyia of Paphos District. The club formed in 2003 following the merger of lower divisi ...

, and in South Africa for

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. In January 2013 signed for

. Ramatlhakwana was meant to move from Santos to Vasco da Gama in the summer of 2010, but a transfer fee wasn't agreed until January 2011. After his work permit was initially denied, Ramatlhakwane didn't sign for Vasco da Gama until April 2011; he scored on his debut.

International career

Ramatlhakwane scored on his senior debut for

in a 1–0 win over

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

in November 2006, and has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Ramatlhakwane led Botswana in scoring with five goals in qualifying for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. His fifth goal came on 26 March 2011 in N'Djamena, Chad as Botswana won 1-0 and became the first nation aside from the co-hosts to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, as Botswana would play in its first ever major tournament. He scored four goals at the

2013 COSAFA Cup The 2013 COSAFA Cup, sponsored by South African Breweries and officially named the 2013 COSAFA Castle Cup, was the 14th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council ...

, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

, as Botswana failed to get out of the group stage. Those goals were enough to earn him the tournament's golden boot award. It also took his international tally to 17, surpassing the record of 16 goals held by

Dipsy Selolwane Diphetogo "Dipsy" Selolwane (born 27 January 1978) is a Motswana former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has also played as a striker in Major League Soccer. Club career Selolwane first played for Gaborone United in the ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Botswana's goal tally first.''

Honours

;National team *Winners: 2008 Swaziland Four Nations Tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramatlhakwana, Jerome 1985 births Living people Men's association football forwards Botswana men's footballers Botswana expatriate men's footballers Botswana expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Botswana men's international footballers Cypriot First Division players Mogoditshane Fighters players Mochudi Centre Chiefs SC players Santos F.C. (South Africa) players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa APOP Kinyras FC players Vasco da Gama F.C. players township Rollers F.C. players Thanda Royal Zulu F.C. players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players CS Don Bosco players Expatriate men's footballers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo