Banyana Banyana star Thembi Kgatlana hopes they can replicate the performance they put in their 2-1 loss to England in a friendly in Coventry on Tuesday at next year's Wafcon.
Banyana looked shaky in the first half, allowing The Lionesses to score two goals inside the first 25 minutes of the game. Skipper Leah Williamson, who plays for Arsenal, broke the deadlock in the 12th minute before Manchester United's Grace Clinton doubled the lead 11 minutes later.
Banyana turned the tables in the second half, forcing the hosts to panic as they started to play with more determination. SA's purposeful approach paid off when Kgatlana pulled one back in the 55th minute, pouncing on Williamson's miscalculated back pass to beat goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Banyana should have easily scored more goals but Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia squandered a few other chances.
“This is a performance that we are going to take into Wafcon. There are many things to fix but it's good that we were able to score against the No 2 team [in the world], it's not easy and our second half performance was strong,'' Kgatlana said.
Banyana had lost 5-0 to Denmark in Aalborg four days earlier, where Kgatlana and three other overseas-based players – Magaia, Linda Motlhalo and Sinoxolo Cesane were absent.
“Pikinini”, as Kgatlana is nicknamed, lauded their return as the overseas contingent against England, the European champions, also thanking Safa for arranging these high-profile friendlies to prepare for Wafcon, where they'll attempt to avoid being the first nation to fail to defend the title in Morocco next year.
This is a performance that we are going to take into Wafcon. There are many a lot ofthings to fix but it's good that we were able to score against the No 2 team [in the world], it's not easy and our second half performance was strong
— Thembi Kgatlana
“It was a good game. The players who were not there in Denmark did well, showed their experience and carried the team,'' Kgatlana noted.
“We want to play against the best teams and England is ranked number two, so we are thankful to the federation for organising these games because we are on a long journey of preparations for Wafcon.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis felt her charges were “magnificent” in Coventry, saying SA should be proud. Ellis added that the European tour ticked all the boxes she had hoped it was going to tick.
“The players today played according to the game plan. I thought they were magnificent and the whole of SA can be proud of these players. We stood the physical battle... we gave as good as they gave. We stood up and our players were counted today. When we went in for the physical battles, we didn't hold back,'' Ellis stated.
“Oh definitely”, the Banyana coach answered when asked if the games against Denmark and England served the purpose or not.
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