Banyana Banyana suffer third World Cup preparation defeat
A comedy of errors in Banyana Banyana’s defence saw them suffer a 4-1 defeat to Australia during their international friendly match at the Kingsmeadow Stadium in London yesterday.
A brace by Cortnee Vine and a goal apiece by Clare Polkinghorne and Caitlin Foord saw the Matildas make light work of Banyana, who appear weak against quality opposition.
A consolation goal for the African champions was scored by striker Hilda Magaia in the closing stages of a match utterly dominated by the Australians.
Banyana went into the match on the back of a chastening 9-0 aggregate defeat to Brazil during their recent two-match friendly series as they continue to prepare for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Australia, who are 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup co-hosts with New Zealand, started the match with intent and forced Banyana to commit mistakes in their own half.
In Australia’s first attack of the afternoon, under pressure Tiisetso Makhubele cleared the ball on the goal line in the third minute, which resulted in a corner kick.
From the corner kick, Australia took the lead after SA goalkeeper Regirl Ngobeni fumbled the ball in the path of an alert Vine in the box to open the floodgates.
Vine doubled the scoring in the 24th minute and Polkinghorne’s header in the 41st minute from yet another corner kick ensured that Australia went into the break with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Banyana struggled to keep the ball in the midfield, where the likes of Linda Motlhalo, Thalea Smidt and Linda Mathlalo mostly operated, and this diminished their ability to attack the Australians.
Gabriela Salgado’s return to the team showed glimpses of confidence up front as she was pairing up with stand-in captain Jermaine Seoposenwe. Unfortunately none of their attempts were enough to test the Australian keeper Teagan Micah.
The match went to the half-time break without a shot on goal for Banyana.
Australia continued from where they left off when the match resumed for the second half as they camped in the territory of the African champions. It came as no surprise when they increased their lead.
Foord scored the last goal for Australia in the 52nd minute after numerous attempts for the 12th ranked team as they took the match beyond Banyana’s reach.
Substitute Melinda Kgadiete made a bit of a difference up front and one of those runs saw her find Magaia, who looped the ball over Micah to score Banyana’s only goal in the 86th minute.
The win over SA was redemption for the Matildas after they lost two friendly matches against Olympic Games champions Canada in September.
The match went to the half-time break without a shot on goal for Banyana