Banyana Banyana has been my second home, says Portia
SOUTH Africa’s most prolific international goal-scorer Portia Modise has hung up her shooting boots.
The Soweto-born Banyana Banyana striker scored 102 goals for her country, and said the decision had been a long time coming.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time, and have been discussing it with my coach (Vera Pauw),” Modise said yesterday.
“I still wanted to play until the end of the year, but picked up a hamstring injury so was forced to take a six-month break. The circumstances, and struggling to keep up (with the younger players), made the decision easier.”
Although news of the retirment came as a shock to her fans, they could take solace from the fact that Modise collected her 100th international goal in Banyana’s 5-1 victory against Algeria at the African Women’s Championships in October last year.
She was the first African player to reach the milestone, and was also named South African Sports Person of the Year last year.
“I didn’t think too much of the 100 goals because I was considering my teammates and didn’t want it be me about me or to come across as being selfish. It was only when the coach and management team told me I was close to it, and started motivating me, did I give my best to reach the milestone,” Modise explained.
Modise began playing soccer on the streets with her brothers and friends at a young age. She captained Basetsane (the national under-19 team) at the age of 13 and two years later was called up to Banyana Banyana.
The 31-year-old has learnt a lot from her global journey spanning 17 years.
“My highlights have been everything in my career – all the ups and the downs which have made me stronger. I’ve played with lots of generations and have learnt a lot from them.
“My teammates are so special and I’ve really enjoyed playing with the youngsters and sometimes I forget that I’m one of the senior players. But we’ve really bonded and Banyana has been my second home. Just as much as I have tried to teach them a few things, they have taught me and made me the person that I am today.”
Modise believes with the right foundations, Banyana’s future looks bright.
“There are many up-andcoming players like Jermaine (Seoposenwe), who are doing so well. But we need to have pro- fessional structures in place like Bafana, where it’s so easy for them to go from PSL (Premier Soccer League) training sessions to the national set-up. It is so much more difficult for Banyana as we have no professional league.”
Modise will not be severing ties with the national team.
“The (Safa) president (Danny Jordaan) wants me to be involved in the Banyana setup, so I intend taking coaching courses so I can grow as a coach with (the national team) and be an ambassador too.”