It is every athlete’s dream to play at the biggest stage when it comes to sports.
South Korea-based Hilda Magaia, who is a forward for the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana, is no different.
The Limpopo-born player missed out on the 2019 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup that was held in France, which was also South Africa’s maiden tournament.
At the time she was still on the books of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) after a short stint at Tuks (University of Pretoria).
The forward was left out because of an illness with Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree going with Ode Fulutudilu, Rhoda Mulaudzi, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Thembi Kgatlana and Amanda Mthandi.
A year earlier, she was named as one of the stand-by players – along with Kholosa Biyana, Rachel Sebati and Thato Letsoso – for the 2018 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations held in Ghana.
A lot has changed since then.
Banyana Banyana won the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Championship in Gqeberha – their seventh title – with Magaia chosen as the Player of the Tournament.
She scored four goals, including a hattrick as they defeated Malawi 6-2.
Magaia was then snapped up by Moron BK in Sweden where she spent a season before becoming the first South African woman player to be signed in South Korea – she is now on her second instalment of her two year contract with Sejong Sportstoto.
While the club finished bottom of the table in the eight-team league last season, it was in Morocco at the 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations that her light shone brighter.
The forward was instrumental in helping Banyana Banyana to be crowned continental champions, as she chipped in with three goals in the tournament – including a brace in the final against hosts Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
She was joint top goal scorer with two other players (Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak and Nigeria’s Rasheedat Ajibade), and the South Africa walked away with the Player of the Match award.
In South Korea, Magaia is hard at work in pre-season training – with two sessions a day – in wet and snowy conditions, not much different from where she was in Sweden – but says she still can’t get used to the cold, afterall, she was born in Limpopo, one of the hottest place in South Africa.
Their league season starts from March until October.
Centrecirle.online caught up with her before she jetted off to training.
It’s been almost a year since you joined Sejong, how are things going?
Everything is going well so far, it was a bit of a turmoil at first when I arrived here, but I got to adjust and now I’m enjoying every minute I get to spend here. Everyone is just so supportive – from the payers to the technical team. They ensure that I have everything I need, and that I’m comfortable as much as possible.
What do you do in your spare time?
Read, TV and Shopping, then sleep.
Of the 21 matches in the season, how many did you play?
I played roughly around 14 including being subbed on and off as I had a hamstring problem.
You signed for a team that finished 7th the season prior to you joining, and ended bottom of the table in the previous campaign (2022), is that not a worry?
It is more than worrying for me considering that I have never played for a team that finished bottom of the log. But it is a game of football, we learn from our mistakes and work on being better and better each time we play.
You are busy with pre-season training with the league starting in March, how ready is the team for 2023?
I can say the team is almost ready, the coaches are just fixing there and there. I can’t say we 100% ready yet, but we are getting there.
Since there is no relegation and promotion, how much competition is there in the 8-team league? Do you feel challenged?
There is no relegation and promotion but the way teams play, you’d swear there is. Every team wants to be at the top. They want to be called Korean Women’s League champions. So, there is an intense competition in this league and it increases with every game. I do get challenged a lot, but I just continue thriving to be at the top of my game each time I get a chance to play.
If you compare to where you were in Sweden, what would you say about the level?
The level keeps on increasing for me, I think there is no gap between the Korean Women’s League and Swedish Women’s League. The only difference might be playing many games against one team here in Korea but it’s still intense, winning the previous game doesn’t guarantee you a win on the next one. So, the level is high and, again, the Koreans play a much quicker football other than Swedes. So, you can imagine how intense 30 minutes can be in the game. That would definitely feel like 60 minutes. But we thrive.
Asia is a very tricky continent for many – how are you coping with food, language?
When it comes to that part I am struggling a lot, more especially with the language. I really get so frustrated inside the field as we don’t understand each other, but this year it seems much better. You know football language, you just have to catch it on the way and move on. Hand gestures and movements are my biggest fighters here lol. Also, it’s hard to make friends with the teammates as they don’t understand even a bit of English. With the food, I’m just trying not to think of South African food because that will depress me, so I just try to eat what I know and leave out anything unusual to me.
Are there any plans to move at the end of the season?
For now, I’m not so sure. I just want to focus on doing great this season, and that will create opportunities for me. But if a better opportunity arises, I am open to moving.
This is world cup year, what can we expect from Banyana Banyana in Australia and New Zealand, looking at our group – Sweden, Italy and Argentina?
The aim is to do good like we always strive to. It’s not an easy task as no team can qualify for the World Cup if they are not good enough. So, people can expect hard work, dedication and the will to win and represent the nation well.
You missed out on the last World Cup in France, how important will this one be for you, if you get selected?
This is a very important one for me considering that I missed the previous one. So, If I get selected it would really be a dream come true. That feeling of getting the chance to experience football at that bigger stage, I’m certain it would be a very emotional one for me as it was heart breaking for me to miss the previous one due to illness.
Only Thembi Kgatlana has scored at World Cup for Banyana Banyana (against Spain), if you were to make the final 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad, and you scored, what would it mean to you scoring at that level?
It would mean really mean a lot. That would be my happiest moment and mean that indeed dreams delayed are not dreams denied. That would show me that God’s timing is always perfect. It would actually bring a lot of emotions and memories to me. It would make me believe that there was a reason I didn’t make it to the previous World Cup, which is, I was being prepared to do better and be better than I was before.
Having won the WAFCON, how much pressure is there on South Africa, if any?
There is a lot of pressure because now that we are African champions, we’ve set the bar very high and people are expecting us to deliver, but like I said earlier it is not going to be easy.
What needs to be done for Banyana Banyana to be ready for the tournament?
More and more friendly games with those highly-ranked teams so that we can see where the team is and what needs to be improved for the team’s readiness to the World Cup.
FACT FILE:
- Sejong Sportstoto Women’s Football Club is a South Korean women’s football team based in Sejong
- The club competes in the WK League, the top division of women’s football in South Korea
- Plays its home games at Sejong Central Park
- TheWK League is a semi-professional women’s football league
- It is run by the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Korea Women’s Football Federation (KWFF), which represents the sport’s highest level in South Korea.
- The regular season runs from March to October
- Since the inception of the WK League in 2009, three clubs have won the title: Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels (9), Goyang Daekyo (3), and Suwon FC Women (1)
- The eight teams in the league play each other three times.
- The games are played on Monday and Thursday evenings
- The regular part of the season ends when each team has played a total of 21 matches, and is followed by the playoffs: the second and third placed teams face each other in a one-leg semi-final, with the winner facing the first placed team in a two-leg final
- The winner of the final is crowned WK League champion
- The WK League is the only women’s league in the country and as such there is no relegation system in place.
By Matlhomola Morake
