Banyana Banyana's impressive performance in their last Wafcon Group C fixture against Mali may have reignited expectations of them defending their title after two unconvincing displays against Ghana and Tanzania in their two opening fixtures.
Be that as it may, defender Karabo Dhlamini has moved swiftly to lower the expectations.
The 23-year-old fullback – who has played all the minutes for Banyana at this Wafcon in Morocco – has also highlighted that beautiful football counts for nothing at such tournaments. Banyana face Senegal in the competition's quarterfinal at Honneur Stadium in Oujda on Saturday (9pm SA time). "People should continue believing, but as players we take it each game as it comes," Dhlamini said.
"We don't make promises as we don't want to think too far ahead of ourselves. In tournaments like this, sometimes you can play beautiful football and lose, sometimes you can play badly and win... and days are not the same.''
At the end of the day, it will be 11 against 11, same ball.
— Karabo Dhlamini, Banyana defender
Banyana thumped Mali 4-0 to top the group, also ensuring they remain in Oujda for tomorrow's quarterfinal fixture. Dhlamini also downplayed remaining in Oujda, despite now being familiar with the place and Honneur Stadium after playing all their three Group C fixtures there.
"If I am being honest, it's not about the stadium you play in but it's about how you play as a team. So we might have played all our group stages in Oujda, but that doesn't give us any advantage. The most important thing is the team's performance on the day, irrespective of where we play,'' said the Banyana defender.
SA unconvincingly beat Ghana 2-0 in their opener and drew 1-all against Tanzania in their second fixture. Dhlamini has identified height as one of Senegal's strengths, albeit asserting they were still capable of keeping those "tall" players at bay.
"Senegal are a good team. We know they have tall players, which is something we lack but we have played against teams with taller players and dealt well with them, meaning we're ready to cope with that again against Senegal. At the end of the day, it will be 11 against 11, same ball. To beat Senegal we need to stick to our style of play."
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