Banyana can book their London Olympics ticket with a win in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday.

The SA women's football team travels to Ethiopia tomorrow for a Games second-leg qualifier after a convincing 3-0 win at home helped get one foot into the Olympics.

Victory in Addis Ababa, where Banyana are likely to face opponents better prepared for them, will make coach Joseph Mkhonza's side the first Southern African women's football side to qualify for the Olympics.

Banyana have always come close to this enormous achievement, but in the past were knocked out in the qualifiers.

On Sunday, coach Mkhonza will be without key player Kylie Ann Louw, who will not be able to join up with Banyana in time from the US , where she plays club football.

But there's a timely boost in defence with Janine "Booth" van Wyk returning to the team after serving a one-match suspension.

"My players know they are so close to qualifying for their first Olympic Games and are determined not to let the dream slip away," said Mkhonza.

"Our training sessions and ways in which we have prepared for the game against Ethiopia have been comfortable. We have spent a lot of time together and we can see that from the way we control the ball in important matches."

Banyana have had tough encounters on their way to Sunday's final Olympic qualifier. One of them, a third-round match against Tunisia, had to be decided on penalties. Banyana went on to win the match 6-5.

"Playing in other parts of Africa has its challenges. But we are certainly not going into defensive mode against the Ethiopians now that we have a 3-0 advantage," said the coach.

"We scored three good goals at Orlando stadium and are quite capable of scoring some more in Addis Ababa. For us, travelling always delivers surprises, but we have had a solid preparation span as a team."

All of Banyana's three goals were scored by their best forward, Noko Matlou. The striker said she hasn't slept much since the win in Soweto two weeks ago.

"We are so close," she said. "And it is so difficult to sleep knowing we are on the verge of qualifying for the Olympic Games for the first time."

Matlou said Banyana's disappointing campaign in the African women's championship, held in South Africa in October last year, still lingered.

The winners of that tournament, Nigeria, and runners-up Equatorial Guinea represented Africa at the women's World Cup in Germany three months ago.

"We felt we let South Africa down by finishing third in the women's championship. It was difficult to watch the top two in Africa at the World Cup and we were at home, especially knowing that we could have been there," said Matlou, who has scored 51 goals in 60 matches for Banyana.

"Believe me when I say my goal-scoring statistics are furthest from my mind. I just want to see us playing at the Olympics in London next year."