Banyana aim to finish strong

BANYANA BANYANA will hope to bow out of this year's Cyprus Women's Cup in style when they cross paths with Finland once more in the playoff for ninth place this morning (11am) at the GSZ Stadium.

The performance of the South African senior women's national team in their group stage matches left a lot to be desired. A single point from three matches saw them finish bottom of group A.

Despite that, Banyana should be pleased that they were taught several hard lessons a few months prior to their maiden Fifa Women's World Cup appearance.

Top of their frailty list is taking too much time to warm up to the demands of the game, as they had to come from behind twice in order to salvage a draw and score a consolation goal against Finland and North Korea respectively last week.

In the last group stage match against the Czech Republic, Banyana looked as though they had got their mojo back as they took an early lead and played with dedication and zest. But the wheels came off late in the game as they gifted the Europeans a 2-1 win.

Not all is lost though, for this tournament was meant to prepare them for the main attraction - the Fifa World Cup in France from June 7 to July 7.

And, so far, it's only the winning recipe that's missing from their bucketful of lessons learnt from the tournament.

Banyana Banyana should savour the opportunity to test themselves against an opponent they have already encountered.

In the teams' second meeting in a fortnight, coach Desiree Ellis' troops will hope to continue where they left off in the first clash - as the stronger of the two sides.

Last week, goals by Leandra Smeda and Thembi Kgatlana ensured they got a point - each time Banyana having to come from behind in the 2-2 draw.

That performance gave rise to hopes the South Africans would have a great tournament, only for the weekend's 4-1 mauling by North Korea and the defeat by the Czech Republic on Monday bringing them down to earth.

As they get to the tail end of preparations for their maiden appearance at the global soccer showpiece, Banyana would love nothing more than a win.

And that 2-2 draw suggested they have the beating of the Finns.

Whatever the result today, Ellis would be pleased that players such as Thembi Kgatlana, Linda Motlhalo and Lebogang Ramalepe have already shown signs they are ready to mix it up with the big guns.

They will, however, need everyone firing on all cylinders if they are to realise their goal of progressing past the group stage at the World Cup.

After today's clash with Finland, Banyana have a date with the No 1 ranked United States in May before they head to France.