Banyana's journey of discovery

27 May 2015 - 02:21 By Tshepang Mailwane

They survived sleeping on "wooden planks" and dubious refereeing decisions in Gabon, and now Banyana Banyana are back home ready to finish off the job. Vera Pauw's players began life without legendary striker Portia Modise on a positive note, beating Gabon 3-2 in Libreville in a first leg 2016 Rio Olympics qualifier at the weekend despite hostile conditions.They host Gabon at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday in the return leg, confident they can progress to the penultimate round of qualifiers."It was a frustrating trip. We were short of rooms and players had to sleep on wooden planks. We only sorted it out the next day. And during the game we had 12 offsides, 10 of which were not offside," Pauw said yesterday after a training session in Bedfordview.Banyana knew nothing about Gabon before the first leg, but now they know what to expect from their opponents after a tough encounter in Libreville.The last time Banyana played in Dobsonville in April, they hammered Botswana 5-0 in an All Africa Games qualifying match. Winger Leandra Smeda is hoping for another commanding display.They will play Kenya or Botswana if they win...

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