Banyana star Matlou dreams of playing at the World Cup
JOHANNESBURG: Banyana Banyana’s Noko Matlou says she has adapted very well to her new role in the team, and it has helped her to grow stronger as a player since being used as a centre back by head coach Vera Pauw last year.
Matlou previously played as a striker for the national team before Pauw started partnering her with captain Janine van Wyk at the heart of the defence.
“I have grown to love my new position in the team. It has been challenging, yet very exciting and I am enjoying each every minute I spend on the pitch,” said Matlou.
“I believe as a player, when a coach asks you to play in a position you have never played before, it means they have seen some potential in you. That it is why I never complained about it. I had doubts when I first started, but because of people like Janine – who has been playing at the back for almost all her life – guiding me, I have no worries. I have started to get comfortable and now I love it.”
However, Matlou admits that she does get tempted to go upfront, especially when the team is struggling to get goals.
“It gets frustrating when the guys at the back are defending so well and the guys upfront are missing chances. So, it really gets to me and I would think about going forward to help out.”
Besides being one of the most capped players in the Banyana team with over 100 appearances to her name, Matlou is undoubtedly one of the best female soccer players the country has ever seen.
Since making her debut for the national team in 2006, Matlou has scored 61 goals in the green and yellow jersey.
Her goal-scoring abilities won her many individual accolades, which in turn made her one of the most feared strikers in women’s football.
In 2008, she was named the Cosafa Under-20 Player of the Tournament and top goalscorer. The very same year, she helped Banyana Banyana get to the finals of the Caf African Women’s Championships (AWC) in Equatorial Guinea, where she also gave a splendid performance, scoring six goals and being named Player of the Tournament and the joint topgoal-scorer. The following year (2009), Matlou was announced as the Caf African Women Footballer of the year.
“When I started with the team in 2006, I was ecstatic. From 2006 to 2009, I have to say, those were the best years of my football career,” says Matlou.
The Banyana star says a lot is still missing though. She dreams of playing in the World Cup one day, as well as winning the African Women’s Championships. “So many times we’ve come close to winning the AWC, but we are yet to win it. But I believe one day will make it. There is also the World Cup. That’s something we have to set our eyes on after failing to qualify for this year’s tournament.”
Matlou also says the All Africa Games is a good platform for them to prepare for the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics qualifiers.