Banyana promise to overturn loss to Nigeria
● Banyana Banyana striker Thembi Kgatlana and goalkeeper Kaylin Swart have vowed to reverse the 1-0 deficit against Nigeria and take Banyana to the 2024 Olympics in Paris later this year.
The duo spoke confidently about Banyana’s chances after Desiree Ellis’ team failed to recover from Busayo Ajibade’s 42nd minute penalty in the first leg of the fourth round play-offs at the MKA Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday night.
Kgatlana and Swart have been part of Banyana’s success in recent years, the highlight being their crowning as champions of Africa after beating Morocco in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, and last year when the team made it to the last-16 of the Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
Kgatlana said that they didn’t start the way they wanted in Abuja, and agreed they will have to vastly improve their game on Tuesday in the return leg at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria (kick-off 7.30pm), where Ellis has called for South Africans to come in their numbers to support Banyana.
“The positives that we’ll take back home is that we played better in the second half after struggling in the first,” said Kgatlana, who has 72 caps and 23 goals for Banyana, and was, alongside Swart, part of the Banyana team that last played in the Olympics in Rio 2016.
“With familiar facilities (at Loftus), we know what we need to do in front of our fans. The good thing is that it’s not a tournament. We’re playing one match and we know after the game in Pretoria who’s going through. There’s no fixing or anything, but I think after today we have confidence because we know that we have to win with a better score.”
Kgatlana and Ellis complained of the pitch in Nigeria, saying the long grass didn’t help their passing game. But Kgatlana is glad that at Loftus there will be no such worries, as they’ll have everything under control. “We know that the pitch will favour us,” added Kgatlana who now plays for Mexican giants Tigres UANL.
“Nigeria are not a team that plays the ball, they’re a team that want to run behind (the defence). We have an advantage when we go home because of better facilities.”
Swart did extremely well to make sure Banyana are not chasing a huge score in the second leg, making some vital saves to keep the score at 1-0, especially in the second half.
The JVW shot stopper believes playing the second leg at home will make all the difference for Banyana who, like the Nigerians, are looking to make a third appearance at the Olympics. “I still believe in my girls,” she said.
“I think we can turn it around at home. I just hope that the fans will come out and be behind us because I do think there’s so much more in the second leg and hopefully we can get the goals we need.”
The winner of Tuesday’s game will face world champions Spain, Japan and Brazil in Group C in the 12-team women’s tournament in Paris.