The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana will not be lulled into a sense of complacency when they tackle Tanzania in the second leg third round 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifiers.
The two nations meet on Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga with the South Africans in a comfortable 3-0 lead from the first leg.
Kickoff is at 19h30.
The African Champions got off to a flyer at the Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Friday, 23 February with the Mexico-based connection of Jermaine Seoposenwe, Thembi Kgatlana and Hilda Magaia getting on the scoresheet to all but seal progression to the fourth and final round to be played in April.
“We have to finish the job at home, we don’t want to be complacent. Three-nil and I know people will say it’s a score that wins you the tie, but the next goal in the match could change things. We have to score the next goal and once that is over then we’ll worry about facing anyone in front of us – be it Nigeria or Cameroon – but we still have a job to do so we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We want to make sure that we finish the job and then concentrate on who we need to play next,” Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis told SAFA.net
In the first half of the clash against the Twiga Stars, the South Africans, who were playing their first match of the year since early in December 2023, had to overcome some rustiness but got better in the second stanza.
“Tanzania had a good plan, but I think at the end of the day the quality of our team rose above and we created chances, and we managed to score – which was amazing. We could have scored a couple of more, but with three goals I don’t think the coach can ask for more.,” said Seoposenwe who broke the deadlock in the 10th minute.
“We have the quality, but we played in patches, so we need to control the game from the start, dictate play and the tempo from the start. We need to work on things we did wrong.”
Her sentiments were shared by Magaia, who sealed victory with the third goal in the 86th minute.
“I think most of us were not playing to our strength early on, we were allowing the opponents to direct us on how we should play but in the second half we came back and played our game. We managed to hold on to the ball. We now have home ground advantage and I think we are going do well as a team because we will have our supporters and everyone rallying behind us,” said Magaia, who sealed victory with the third goal in the 86thminute.
Banyana Banyana are already in Mpumalanga to complete preparations for the second leg – they will have two training sessions – on Sunday and Monday evening (25 & 26 February).
It is still not clear if Kgatlana will be available for the home leg after she was stretchered off in the away fixture and replaced by Nthabiseng Majiya. An update is expected after the training sessions.
This will be the seventh meeting between the two countries, and South Africa is on a run of six consecutive wins against the East Africans.
The return to Mpumalanga comes after an 11-year absence where they last faced Mozambique in a friendly match.
Ellis has made a call to the people of the province and surrounding areas to show their support to Banyana Banyana on the night.
“We hope that the fans can come out in their numbers and support the team and be that 12th and 13th player because we know that when we go out onto the field, we do it for people back home and people that might not see the team that often. We’re just hoping that they come out and they fill that stadium and make it really difficult for the opponents,” said Ellis.
The overall winner between South Africa and Tanzania will face off against the last team standing when Nigeria hosts Cameroon. The two giants go into the second leg in a tight spot after a goalless stalemate in Doula, Cameroon on Friday (23 February).
The fourth and final round will be played in April with the winners securing their ticket to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games which will be held from 24 July to 10 August.
Only two countries will represent the African continent at the global showpiece.
In the other stream Zambia has a 1-0 lead over Ghana ahead of the second leg, while Morocco sits with a narrow 2-1 advantage against fellow North Africans Tunisia.
The last team standing from this group will be the second nation going to the Olympic Games.
By Matlhomola Morake
