Banyana Banyana
Banyana Banyana received the ideal mental boost this week after being named the national team of the year at the South African sports awards. It added fuel to a belief they have already sparked in themselves. Desiree Ellis and her team believe this could be their year to forge a new path to greater achievement. They head into the Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon) this weekend having never won it before. Nor have they ever qualified for a World Cup, something which they could achieve with a top three finish this month.
“It started at the beginning of the year when we knew this was going to be a big year,” Ellis said after the side arrived in Ghana. “We have had a very good year, but it can be a great year depending on Afcon and how we perform. We have prepared really well. They say preparation doesn’t guarantee success but it prepares you not to fail.”
Despite defending the Cosafa Cup this year, all the positive talk will fall flat if the team flops in Ghana. It’s time to walk the walk, as captain Janine van Wyk has stressed.
That march begins on Sunday against Nigeria. There couldn’t be a harder start. The Super Falcons are the undisputed queens of African football. Their 10 Awcon titles mean there have been only two editions in the competition’s history that they haven’t won, in 2008 and 2012.
On the way to the title two years ago they finished with an aggregate score of 13-1. They have been to every World Cup since 1991. You could throw out facts like these all day long.
“It’s the first game so it sets the tone for the rest of the tournament,” Ellis said. “You know if you want to be the best then you have got to beat the best. There is none other like Nigeria, the defending champion; they have earned that respect. But we will go out there, 11 versus 11, and show what we have worked on this past year.”
The last time Nigeria lost an Awcon match, incidentally, was against South Africa in 2012. Van Wyk scored a belter of a long-distance strike to secure that historic first victory against the Super Falcons and book a spot in the final.
Now, having recently earned her 150th cap, the team’s talisman says the side does not fear the mighty champions, giving a rousing speech before departing for Ghana.
“For us as a team we have spoken about it,” she said. “We know we’re facing Nigeria and we are ready for them. We are ready, we have beaten them before and I don’t see why we can’t do it again.
“Our main objective when that opening game kicks off is to go with full force, a fearless approach and just do the best that we can and move on from there.”
The weather is reportedly sweltering on the Cape Coast, the scene of the battle. If Banyana survive the sweat against the best on the continent, expect the existing expectations for the “pride of the nation”, as Ellis describes her side, to reach unprecedented levels.