Banyana Banyana newbie Ronnel Donnelly, who idolises her veteran teammate Jermaine Seoposenwe, is motivated to keep going and cement her place in the team after making her debut when Banyana beat Ghana 2-0 in their Wafcon opener in Oujda, Morocco, on Monday.
Donnelly was introduced for Noxolo Cesane, who notched up her 50th Banyana cap on the day, in the 86th minute at Honneur Stadium.
Banyana's next Group C fixture is against Tanzania at the same venue tomorrow (9pm SA time).
"I was obviously nervous because it was my first cap. I didn't expect to go in but the fact that the coach put me in shows that I am doing something good in training. That cameo motivates me a lot to say, 'there's a lot more I can do and there's something in me'. I just need to work even harder to get more caps,'' Donnelly said.
I was obviously nervous because it was my first cap. I didn't expect to go in but the fact that the coach put me in shows that I am doing something good in training.
— Ronnel Donnelly
The 21-year-old striker, who plies her trade with Hollywoodbets Super League side University of the Western Cape (UWC), was on cloud nine as she shared the pitch with her idol Seoposenwe, who scored Banyana's second goal against the Black Queens.
Donnelly wants to learn from Seoposenwe as much as she can, particularly as the 31-year-old striker is retiring after this ongoing Wafcon in Morocco.
"It never crossed my mind that I'd be able to get to play with the people I am looking up to like Jermaine. She's my idol, so to play with her was an honour. Playing with Jermaine gives me hope and it shows that there's a lot I can learn from her,'' Donnelly said.
Donnelly was optimistic that Banyana would beat Tanzania tomorrow. Beating Tanzania would all but see SA qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. Banyana are eager to avoid being the first team to fail to defend the Wafcon title after winning it on the same Moroccan soil back in 2022.
"Obviously, every game is important for us, so again, against Tanzania we know it's a must-win. As a team I think we've got this and we're going to go out there and dominate and get those three points,'' Donnelly said.
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