I am a big boy, certainly no cry baby, but the story that the Banyana Banyana coach shared with me on that day would have made even the stone-hearted among us engage in some eye- irrigation.

Twelve years ago his only daughter left home to attend a 21st birthday party in Alexandra.

She came back in a coffin after a bullet to the head ended her life.

"Gangsters came in while the party was on. She tried to fight and they shot her in the head. She was 26," said Mkhonza.

It was against that background that the then caretaker coach added: "God has blessed me with many more daughters. All these girls in the team and every girl who plays football in the country is my daughter."

Mkhonza and his "daughters" made me shed a tear again on Saturday, a day likely to go down in history as a watershed one for women's football in the country.

I was a one-man audience in my Cape Town hotel room, screaming my voice hoarse as I cheered on the women who were chasing an Olympic dream.

When prolific striker Noko Matlou, the 2009 African Woman Footballer, scored not one, not two, but three glorious goals to put Banyana on the verge of history, I felt like running up and down Table Mountain until burning all my fat to the last drop. But if the PSL referees can confuse fat for fit, I'll join them because I can't beat them. I digress.

Captain Amanda Dlamini & Co must have felt like they were on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro when the 3-0 victory over Ethiopia edged them closer to living their dream, putting one foot on the London 2012-bound plane.

The femmes fatales have given a fitting finale to women's month. But we should curb the celebrations for now - there's still 90 minutes to be played in the return leg away in Addis Ababa on September 11.

Banyana have come a long way since their international debut against Swaziland back in 1993.

They were crowned champions of the Council for Southern African Football Associations in 2002 and were runners up this year.

Their bags are already packed for Maputo, which will host the All Africa Games next month, for which they took silver in 2003 and 2007.

Tomorrow will see the curtain fall on women's month, and all of us who worship on the altar of football have every reason to be proud of the female folk.

The theme for women's month is "working together to enhance women's opportunities to economic empowerment". They are not paid like their male counterparts, but female footballers have certainly done a mighty fine job of working together towards realising their Olympic dream.

Back to my chat with Mkhonza in April. I asked him what qualifying for the Olympics would mean to him.

Forever selfless, the 56-year-old said he would dedicate Banyana's qualification to Eudy Simelane, another "daughter" senselessly slain.

The former Banyana player was repeatedly raped and stabbed 21 times.

His voice sank when he said: "Her only 'crime' was that she was a lesbian".

If the line is "sisters are doingit for themselves", Mkhonza's daughters are doing it for their father and late sisters.

Here's hoping that we will all be shedding tears of joy when Mkhonza and Banyana make sure of qualification on September 11.