I was in studio doing my analysis on the Banyana Banyana versus Netherlands match for SuperSport when their inspirational journey ended in a 2-0 loss.
I have to say my heart bled when Banyana bowed out, but it was not broken because our girls left the stage in a much stronger position than they arrived in. They have made a major step forward. Losing to the Dutch women, after making history by qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time, was not a disgrace. Their margins of defeat were not huge in any of the games Down Under.
Given the experience they have, Netherlands deserved their victory. Their possession game is top-class. You could tell they had gone all the way to the final at the last World Cup. Having said that, they didn’t play Banyana off the pitch. Our girls continued to push even after losing two important players to injury, Jermaine Seoposenwe and Bambanani Mbane.
Losing a striker and a defender disturbed South Africa’s spine, which ended our journey on a morning when goalkeeper Kaylin Swart produced her best performance at the tournament. She was unlucky with the blunder for the second goal. Take that away and she was solid.
Looking ahead, not all is lost for Africa. Nigeria can qualify for the quarterfinals if they beat England on Monday. There is more history to be made. No African women’s team has played in the last eight.
Also, Morocco are still there. They were wonderful in their win against Colombia. To see them qualify for the last 16, in a group that saw Germany, who have won the World Cup twice, go home early, was amazing. Morocco exceeded my expectations because it was their first time on the big stage.
In their first group matches they, with Zambia, suffered from stage fright. I hope Morocco can be inspired by their men’s team who went all the way to the semifinals in Qatar last year. However, things will not be easy for them when they play France on Tuesday morning.
The US was knocked out by Sweden on Sunday, which means they will not win it for the fifth time. All in all defending champions US were not convincing. Sweden look like they are in it to win it after finishing third three times. Holland are also strong contenders. Remember, this time they finished top of their group ahead of the US.
The South African, Nigerian and Moroccan football associations must not let this historic moment go to waste.
Sweden are determined to be crowned world champions for the first time. They looked second-best against the US on Sunday but the dice rolled in their favour in the penalties. That’s why penalties are a lottery.
I have also been impressed by Japan. They play for each other and never give up. They have amazing energy to carry their plan. Most of their players played in Japan’s Fifa Under-17 World Cup team in Uruguay in 2018 and lost in the quarterfinals. Watch out for them.
My hope is that the huge efforts of the three African teams that were able to get out of their groups were not in vain.
The South African, Nigerian and Moroccan football associations must not let this historic moment go to waste. Even Zambia. They may not have got out of the group stage, but they achieved a victory against Costa Rica.
My message to Caf president Patrice Motsepe is that he and his colleagues been given a compelling reason to help build women’s football. The African women have sent a strong message to be taken seriously.
They have shown the world they can do it. African countries must invest in women’s football and not give lip service. We need to build on this. Corporates must also come to the party so Banyana can continue to do amazing things.
We are proud of what they have done. There were doubts. Nobody thought they would do what they have done. They fought against all odds, and we are proud of them.
∗ Maude Khumalo is head coach of the University of Pretoria women’s team; a former Banyana Banyana defender and assistant coach; former SA U-20 head coach and SA U-17 assistant and an analyst on SuperSport TV.
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