SAZI HADEBE | Banyana’s victory has given us joy when we need it the most

It is at difficult times such as these that we realise how important it is to have something to help us forget our miseries — even for a few minutes. 

If it’s not the rolling electricity blackouts troubling us daily, then it’s the rising inflation which has reached a staggering 6.5% in our country, giving us sleepless nights and little hope of a better future. 

We run out of ideas when we think about how we’ll cope in the coming months and years if the situation gets worse. But while we try to figure out how we can survive, it is somehow relieving that we still have one of the few things that unites us and helps us forget our daily problems. 

For me, and I’m sure many others, it is in watching live sport on television or in stadiums where I find refuge. As I watched Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur become the first African women to make the semifinals of Wimbledon this week, for a moment at least, I forgot all the challenges we have. 

As I watched the Springboks come back from the jaws of defeat against Wales on Saturday to win 32-29 with the last kick of the game by Damian Willemse, my heart leapt with joy. For a moment I had fun and all the troubles we’re facing as a country were parked somewhere far away from my mind. 

As I started to worry on Monday night about another rise in the petrol price that was to be confirmed the next day, my spirits were lifted by none other than our better performing national football team, Banyana Banyana.

Banyana’s progress, at a time when their male counterparts are battling to be among the top ten teams on the continent, tells us not all is lost in our football.

We all know of the rugby rivalry the Springboks have with the All Blacks, from New Zealand that has lasted for 101 years and we can’t wait for it to resume in the Rugby Championship next month. But if there’s anything that comes close to a Springboks/All Blacks rivalry football-wise, it has to be the one between SA and Nigeria.

It all started in the early 1990s with Bafana Bafana and the Super Eagles, before the same energy was transferred to the fixture which pits Banyana against the 11-time African champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria. 

The Super Falcons have denied Banyana glory more than anyone on the continent. Banyana have never won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), despite reaching five finals. In three of those five finals Nigeria disappointed SA, including the last showpiece in Ghana in 2018 where Banyana were beaten in a penalty shoot-out.  

But Monday’s 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Banyana’s opening 2022 Wafcon group match in Morocco, was by far the best I’ve seen of the SA ladies.

It was not just the victory but the way our team performed and controlled the entire match. The second goal scored by Hildah Mogaia after a slick move that involved many Banyana players, is testimony to what our football can produce and achieve if our players are well-groomed and constantly playing at the highest level.

Having nine overseas-based players in this Banyana team makes a whole lot of difference. And for once, we also have to give credit to the SA Football Association (Safa) for establishing the national Women’s League. We’re beginning to see the fruitsof that move as some of the locally based players are holding their own against players plying their trade overseas. 

But we shouldn’t get carried away by Banyana’s victory over Nigeria on Monday and think our team is now a shoo-in to make the last four and qualify for next year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, or go all the way to win the Wafcon. 

The tournament is just starting and there are sides, other than Nigeria, that we should keep an eye on. The hosts Morocco and Senegal are showing a great deal of improvement and should not be taken lightly should Banyana happen to face them later on in this year’s tournament. 

But having said that, we’ve got to celebrate our current Banyana side because they’re by far the most experienced and blessed with the best individual talent we’ve had in a long time.

Having experienced overseas based players such as Thembi Kgatlana, captain Refiloe Jane, Jermaine Seopesenwe and Linda Motlhalo creates a lot of excitement and hope around this team. 

Victory over Burundi on Thursday night will see Banyana join Morocco and Senegal in qualifying for the last eight, making their third Group C match against neighbours Botswana on Sunday academic. 

Banyana’s progress, at a time when their male counterparts are battling to be among the top ten teams on the continent, tells us not all is lost in our football.

I still believe that as long as we put resources in developing and supporting our players, we’ll see the results and progress. I also like that Banyana players and coach Desiree Ellis have acknowledged that beating Nigeria in a group match doesn’t mean we’re now favourites to win the tournament. There’s a lot of work still to be done and success will come if we remain and alert and humble.

If Banyana indeed go on to win the tournament at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on July 23 — as I promised before on this platform — I will be the first one to check if Safa president Danny Jordaan keeps his promise to give each player R400,000 for winning the tournament. 

But the bigger price is to develop and strengthen Banyana to ensure they don’t just make numbers the next time they qualify for a World Cup. Ellis’s team bombed out in the first round without winning a single match in the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. 

Banyana’s improvement cannot be measured by a single win against Nigeria. We’ll say our girls have really made strides when they’ve won the Wafcon and we’ve seen them progress beyond the first round in a World Cup tournament. 

There’s no doubt though that Banyana’s performance on Monday night proves once again that their graph is pointing in the upward trajectory. But most importantly their win gave us hope and much relief at a time we need it the most.