A depleted Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana went down to a spirited Australia in an international friendly match played on Saturday, 8 October 2022 at the Kingsmeadow Stadium in London.
Three goals in the first half and another in the second were enough to seal victory for the Matildas – as they won 4-1, with the South Africans scoring in the dying minutes of the game through Hilda Magaia, who is based in South Korea.
Desiree Ellis’ charges were without most of the players that did duty at the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco in July.
In the absence of regular captains, Janine van Wyk, Refiloe Jane and Andile Dlamini, Banyana Banyana handed the armband to the prolific Jermaine Seoposenwe.
This was the third loss in as many matches for the South African Senior Women’s National Team – the first two coming from the hands of Brazil, a 3-0 and 6-0 defeat last month.
The Mexico-based Seoposenwe had this to say after the Australia encounter.
“At the end of the day we need to regroup and focus on the task at hand, and, also, you must understand what is required of you when you come to the national team. It was tough and everyone going into this game knew it was not going to be easy, and it wasn’t. We worked our socks off and we are human we make mistakes, but in the end a lot of players got the experience today. We are looking forward to the next match and hopefully we will do even better but we must also understand that it is a very young team. As a group we must stick together and give an improved performance in the next match,” said Seoposenwe.
“We must take into consideration that a lot of our regular players are not here who were at WAFCON, so players given a chance had to raise their hands. As the coach always says, no one’s spot is guaranteed – and this is preparation for the World Cup. We do feel the absence of some players, but we must compensate for that and work through it because you never know if people will get injured before the World Cup or on the journey to the World Cup, so players need to be ready when they get a chance, and this was an opportunity to show they can compete against the top in the world”.
Source: SAFA.net
