South Africa has bowed out of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup currently underway in Australia and New Zealand after losing 2-0 to the ninth-ranked Netherlands in the round of 16 at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday, 6 August 2023.
In only their second FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana lit the tournament with their brave and exciting brand of football that won the hearts of many around the globe.
Four years ago, Desiree Ellis’ charges made their debut at the global women’s football showpiece and returned home without any point after suffering three losses.
Fast forward to 2023 and the situation was different for the South Africans – they progressed to the knockout stage and were defeated but not disgraced throughout the tournament.
They got off to a great start, scaring off Sweden as they took the lead but could not hold on and lost 2-1. They dictated terms against Argentina, but again game-management let them down – conceding two goals in the last 20 minutes to walk away with a point. Needing four points to advance to the Round of Last 16 – and rewrite the history books – they duly delivered, beating Italy 3-2 in a pulsating and energy-sapping match in Wellington, New Zealand.
History was made – as they became the first South African national team, female or male, to qualify for the second phase of a World Cup.
But unfortunately, their fine run in the competition came to an end at the hands of Netherlands, going down 2-0 in a match they could have won had they not been wasteful in front of goals.
Here is what they said:
Andries Jonker – Netherlands coach:
“I don’t feel like I should give them any advice, I respect them that much. When I look at them obviously, they look like a team with a huge team spirit, fighting attitude, not willing to give up but fight against every opponent. They respect every opponent as it looks but they have no fear, and they have a couple of outstanding players. So, like all the other countries, they should keep believing in themselves, African champions, outstanding performance here.“
Desiree Ellis – Banyana Banyana coach:
“We spoke about the need to score goals, and we had those opportunities, especially in the first half to kill off the game because we knew the quality side the Netherlands are, and even though we conceded early, the chances that we created should have put us out of sight but when you don’t take your chances this is what happens. We said they (Netherlands) will feel our presence and they did. I don’t this think there are any more underdogs in this World Cup because a goal here or there and we could be speaking a different story. We are disappointed but really proud of this group of players, and South Africa should also be proud. For the players to come out here and perform the way they did against players who play at the highest level week in week out, shows there is a lot talent and we urge everybody on the African continent to get professional leagues so we can compete even better. To the sponsors, I don’t know how you can ignore something special like this, I don’t know how you cannot assist in getting us to climb the ladder and not assist in helping us to getting better. We still have players (like Kaylin Swart) having a 9-5 job and still go to training in the evening, I think that is unacceptable for what this team has achieved. The corporate world needs to stand up and take notice and be counted, otherwise we are going to come back in four years’ time and we will go through the same thing. We could have gone further, the possible of winning it was there, when you look at how the World Cup is going. We urge the corporate and government to come on board and assist. We learnt a lot over the last four years, and yes there are things we could have done better but this time around we knew what we were getting ourselves into – and our performance shows. We want to be remembered as a team that lit up the World Cup as so-called underdogs that pay good football but can also mix it with the best out there. We also want to be remembered for our singing because that is who we are and that what unites us and keeps us together. And we will be back in four years bigger and better.”
Kholosa Biyana – Banyana Banyana Midfielder:
“I gave my best and I think the whole team gave their best. We ran a lot, and we made history, we were playing for ourselves and for our nation and we’re so proud of ourselves. We have definitely been defeated but not disgraced and I hope people back home are proud of us because of the performance we showed. I enjoyed myself. The biggest lesson for me is that we should avoid conceding.”
Nomvula Kgoale – Banyana Banyana Midfielder:
“I feel extremely sad, I can only say that I’m almost going to burst into tears. It’s so sad because you just know how good you are and had we just buried our chances I think we could have been having a different conversation right now. Football is a game of moments – the present moment. When you are presented with an opportunity you’ve got to use it and if you don’t this is the kind of conversations we’re going to have, but then again if you are a footballer, if you are a sports person, we all know that these things happen. Football is heartbreaking and this is the moment where my heart is broken. As South Africans every single time an opposition scores against us we tend to drop our heads and we find it difficult to come back right away, we should do something about it. But we really tried, we showed character. We made history, nothing like this has ever happened – for men or women – so we’ve got something to be really proud of. We’ve got higher standards, we expected better, and we wanted more. All I can say is the journey is not over – but interesting going forward.”
Wendy Shongwe – Banyana Banyana Forward:
“I am so happy for making my debut for Banyana Banyana especially at the World Cup, I am speechless, and I am very proud of this team that we made it out of the group stages and got to the Round of 16 but did not get the results we wished for, Anyway, we move on and head up.”
Linda Motlhalo – Banyana Banyana Midfielder:
“The game against the Netherlands was not easy but we had our chances – we needed to finish them off because once Netherlands got the chances, they buried them. The difference between them and us is they converted their chances. On the other hand, I am smiling because as a team we did really well. We went to the round of 16 when people didn’t believe in us, but we kept on going. If you compare the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and this one, I will say the difference is the mentality – that’s one thing that sets us apart. In 2019 it was the first time we went to a World Cup, we didn’t really know what to expect. Coming here into this one we were prepared enough. I think the performance that we gave says a lot, it says that we are able to compete against anybody it doesn’t matter who, and I think that back in South Africa it is time that the league needs to be professionalized and so that we can compete even better.”
Noko Matlou – Banyana Banyana Defender:
“I’m sad but I’m also proud about our performance as a team. We played very well as a team even though we lost. Our performance showed that we are playing for each other, we are also fighting for the country but unfortunately, we lost today. We have learned a lot of experience playing against top teams. We gave them a run for their money, even though it wasn’t easy. I’m happy with the whole performance of the team, losing in the knockout stage is sad but there are some positives that we can take from here. We played our hearts out. Being here meant a lot because we came here to fight, we came to play our football, we came here to show our culture of how we play, and we did just that. There are no small teams anymore – the likes of Germany didn’t get out of their group and when three African teams qualify for the knockout phase it shows there is a lot of work done behind the scenes. Look at a nation like Jamaica, even though they didn’t have great preparations coming here, you can see how they fight as a team. how they fight for their country. Morocco are here for the first time but have qualified for the knockout stage it shows that we are closing the gap and catching up. This also shows that if we had a professional league we can do even better, as you saw on the field today (against Netherlands) there was no difference except that they scored goals and from our mistakes.”
Thembi Kgatlana – Banyana Banyana Forward:
“At the back of our minds we knew this was potentially our last match, so we have to give our all as we didn’t know what was going to happen after 90 minutes. We had to bring our A game, but if we had taken our chances, we would be talking a different story – but it’s football, you win some you lose some. I think also that fatigue started creeping in and we started making mistakes. This was a very good experience for us concerning the World Cup and now we have to go back home draw from this experience to prepare for the next one. It’s unfortunate that we lost Jermaine and Bambanani but then thank you to the girls that stepped up at that moment, I can’t imagine how difficult it is to just be brought on in that manner (forced sub). I think it’s a very great experience for the team having played all the group stage matches and the round of 16. Our performance is saying it’s been many years now that we’ve been talking that we need a professional league, I think it’s about time where sponsors, broadcasters, the Football Federation, and everyone involved to put their money where their mouths are. We can’t come to back-to-back World Cups and perform the way we performed, surely someone has to be bothered. It has to be worrying the way it’s worrying us that how can we perform at such a high level without nothing (professional league) how much more can we perform with everything if it was given to us? Personally, I am happy for myself, it wasn’t easy the last year or so to come back from an Achilles tendon. Mentally, emotionally it was very difficult but at the back of my mind I wanted to come back and play football. And I think with the performance that I’ve displayed here at the World Cup shows I’ve been hungry (for the game). I had stopped for seven months not doing anything, so I think I have lots of energy and momentum to keep on going and I’m thankful to have an opportunity to represent my country and to play for Racing Louisville. I would like us to be remembered as a team that was brave despite the FIFA rankings, I think all the teams that played us must know that it was hard to play against South Africa and it shows with the stats and the results that we got.”
(CentreCircle.online is at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand courtesy of Sasol, proud sponsors of Banyana Banyana)
