The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana will have to be play as a unit to overcome a strong USA Women’s National Team.
These are the words of South African forward, Thembi Kgatlana, who will captain the squad in the absence of the injured Refiloe Jane.
The two nations square off on Friday 22 September 2023 (01:30 SA Time) at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, and then in Chicago three days later – 24 September 2023 (23:30 SA Time) at the Soldier Field Stadium.
Kgatlana is now based in the USA and is on the books of Racing Louisville in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – which also supplies their American counterparts with players from nine different teams: Washington Spirit (5), OL Reign (4), Chicago Red Stars and San Diego Wave FC have three each.
“To be honest it’s going to be intense, that I know, it’s something that they bring every single time. I play with them week in week out, they have intensity from the start of the whistle. We have to make sure that when we play the game we play together as a team because the strength of the US is to break teams, so whether we go out there and have challenges, depending on what we face at the game, I think it would be good to always stick together as a team until the end of the 90 minutes,” Kgatlana told SAFA.net from Cincinnati.
This will be the sixth time the USA play a match in Cincinnati, and only the second time at the TQL Stadium.
They have won four games and drawn one in the city.
What makes the visitors’ mission perhaps even more difficult is that Head Coach Desiree Ellis will have to do with a make-shift defence following the withdrawal from the squad of experienced defender Noko Matlou due to passport and visa challenges.
The reliable Bambanani Mbane was not called up as she is also in the medical room.
Kgatlana also sees this encounter as a perfect opportunity for the African Champions to fine-tune their game ahead of all-important 2024 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers in October and November respectively.
“I mean everyone wants to play the US, they are best team in the world and I think this friendly couldn’t have come at the right time just after the World Cup with a lot of confidence in the way we played, and also going into preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the Olympic Games qualifiers – I think for us this is a big game, something that we can learn from and enjoy,” added Kgatlana.
“It is a good measure for us, and it means so much to us that after the World Cup we get such a big game and I think it’s going to be a confidence booster for us having to play them and having to go play the African qualifiers.”
The USA is also using these two matches for a variety of reasons.
The Cincinnati clash will mark the farewell of their long-serving midfielder Julie Ertz – 10 years after making her debut in the squad, with 122 caps to her name.
Ertz has won the FIFA Women’s World Cups at youth and senior levels and was instrumental in seeing the USA win back-to-back World Cup tournaments.
Formerly a centre back, Ertz played in all four at the recently ended 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She is also a two a two-time U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year (2017 and 2019).
For the Chicago fixture, it will be the turn of Megan Rapinoe to shine one last time in the USA national team jersey as she has also called time on her stellar career.
Rapinoe has played in four FIFA Women’s World Cups (2011 – Germany, 2015 – Canada, 2019 – France and 2023 – Australia and New Zealand) helping the USA to the title in 2015 and 2019.
The 38-year old was also part of the 2004 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Thailand as well as the Olympic Games in England in 2012 (gold medal), Brazil in 2016 and Japan in 2021 (bronze medal).
She has scored 63 goals in 202 matches for her country – becoming the 14th American to reach 200 games.
Rapinoe, who made her debut on 23 July in 2006 in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, will not play in the first match in Cincinnati.
“I think it’s a lovely career for Rapinoe, she’s been an icon for woman’s football and it would be lovely to see how packed the stadium would be you know and I think a lot of my teammates don’t have the privilege to play in such packed stadium so it’s going to be letting you know to see how in other countries they support woman’s football,” said Kgatlana.
Also, the USA Women’s National Team has already qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and with less than a year to the start of competition, they are using the matches to prepare, as they are in the hunt for their fifth gold medal.
They join hosts Paris as well as France, Brazil, and Colombia as the only nations to have booked their spots so far.
By Matlhomola Morake
