Aiming high
Banyana Banyana eye World Cup spot
Securing a maiden qualification berth to the World Cup will be a huge motivating factor for Banyana Banyana to perform well at the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana in November.
Banyana Banyana depart for the African showcase in Ghana next week among the tournament favourites and must finish in the top three to book a place in the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France next year.
Defender Noko Matlou said they were determined to avoid a repeat of the heartbreak of 2014 when they missed out on qualifying for the World Cup.
This was after they lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast in the third place playoff in Windhoek.
“We don’t want to experience that horrible feeling [of] 2014 where we narrowly lost to Ivory Coast,” she said.
“We have never played at the World Cup before.
“If we qualify we will be the first team from southern Africa to do so, this is a huge motivation.
“We have a coach who has played for the team before and she knows the importance of achieving this milestone.
“We just have to go there and do our best.”
In favour of the current team, Matlou said, was that they had a great balance of home- and overseas-based players.
“The availability of overseas-based players will work for us.
“The friendly we played against Chile recently showed that we have improved a lot. “They are a good team.
“If we can continue what we did in Chile we will be on the right track in Ghana.
“Our preparations are going well so far and I can say that we are on 90% ready to play in the tournament.” –