DOUBLE DUTCH FOR BANYANA

LAST 16: AFRICAN CHAMPS’FIGHTING SPIRIT A POSER FOR ORANJES

By Ali Mphaki

Banyana Banyana landed in Sydney, Australia on Thursday afternoon ahead of their FIFA Women’s World Cup Last 16 encounter against the Netherlands at the Allianz stadium (Kickoff 04:00am CAT) on Sunday.

South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO Lydia Monyepao was at Sydney International Airport to welcome the African champions and she was accompanied by Acting High Commissioner Leonard Khoza and First Secretary Political and Economic Lebogang Mokwena.

Coach Desiree Ellis’ Sasol-sponsored charges made history after they became the first ever South African team, men or women, to make it out of the group stages of a FIFA World Cup following their 3-2 win over Italy in the final group stage match at the Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand on Wednesday.

Hildah Magaia walked away with the player of the match award, becoming the second South African player to get the accolade at the tournament after Thembi Kgatlana won the same honour in the game against Argentina a few days ago.

A SAFA delegation, comprising of President Dr Danny Jordaan, SAFA CEO Monyepao, 2027 Bid Committee chair Tumi Dlamini, Bid Lead Russell Paul and SAFA Women’s Head Romaney Pinnock, are also in Sydney to impress upon FIFA as to why it is important for South Africa to be awarded the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

The team will have their first official training session in Sydney on Friday as Ellis fine-tunes the squad for the challenge against the Netherlands on Sunday.

Dutch coach Andries Jonker enjoyed the South African football players’ fighting- and team spirit in the match against Italy on Wednesday, he told RTL Nieuws.

Thanks to South Africa’s 3-2 win, Oranje will face them in the round of 16 on Sunday. Jonker has some homework to do in the coming days, he said.

“Physically, I thought they were very good. They kept going for 90 minutes. The striker reminded me a bit of Nelli Cooman,” Jonker said. He will do a detailed analysis of the match and the team in the coming days.

“The duel was partly during dinner. Sometimes I was also in another room. I did not concentrate on it much,” he said. “But it was a top-class fight, as we have seen in so many of the matches in this tournament. It was beautiful women’s football.”

If Italy had gone through to the eighth-finals, Jonker and the Oranje Lionesses would have less homework to do, Jonker said. “We have a slightly better picture of Italy. Lineth Beerensteyn and Aniek Nouwen played there. Our staff members are also in Italy from time to time. We know little about South African football.”

The Oranje Lionesses last played against South Africa in April last year, winning 5-1. But it is hard to compare, Jonker said. “Then we played with a completely different team.” He doesn’t want his team to underestimate their opponents. “Smaller countries are also fit.

You rarely see that they cannot keep up physically.”-additional reporting from SAFA website.