The South African flag flew high in the Liga MX Femenil clash between Mazatlán FC Femenil and Cruz Azul in Mexico as Sinoxolo Cesane and Hilda Magaia ran riot to give their new employers their first three points in a 2-1 victory on Match Day 3 (Tuesday, 16 January 2024).
After being a goal down in the 38th minute, it didn’t take long for the pair of the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana to link up and restore parity in the next minute – Magaia feeding an on-coming Cesane with a delightful pass to shoot first time, giving the opposition goalkeeper no chance for her debut goal in the Mexican Women’s Football League.
After the break, Cruz Azul suffered a setback when Andrea Martínez was shown the red card in the in 52nd minute for a foul on Magaia.
Mazatlán took advantage of the numerical superiority and the two South Africans linked up again for the second goal – Magaia flicking a header onto the path of Cesane who beat the offside trap, and, with acres of space, made no mistake as she registered her brace and the second also for her side with nine minutes remaining on the clock.
They held on for a famous win, which came as a welcome relief for the team that started the season with two heavy losses (5-0 and 4-1).
Following their victory, they moved from bottom of the table to 12th place – albeit they have played one game more.
The Banyana Banyana pair was introduced at the start of the new year, and missed the first match.
Of the four South Africans playing their trade in Mexico, only Magaia is yet to get onto the scoresheet.
Both Jermaine Seoposenwe (FC Monterrey) and Thembi Kgatlana (Tigres UANL) have already opened their goal scoring accounts – with the latter included in the Team of the Week for Match Day 2 and named the MVP for the week following a brace.
Mazatlán hosts Atlas on Sunday (21 January 2024) on Match Day 4 of the Clausura.
By Matlhomola Morake
