While Banyana Banyana stalwart Nompumelelo “Mpumi” Nyandeni waits patiently to close her chapter with the national team when she reaches 150 caps, the 36-year-old does not want to hear any talk of her retirement from football.
Nyandeni, who is on the books of TS Galaxy Queens in the Hollywoodbets Super League (HSL), is the third most-capped Banyana player with 149 appearances. The forward is behind retired skipper Janine van Wyk (185) and Noko Matlou (167).
Matlou, who plays her club football in Spain for SD Eibar, is still part of coach Desiree Ellis’s national side. Van Wyk bowed out after playing a part in helping Banyana outclass Burkina Faso to secure their spot in this year’s Paris Olympic Games. She had not been part of Banyana for more than a year and was brought back so she could reach the milestone of becoming the footballer with most caps, male or female, on the African continent.
Nyandeni, who last featured for Banyana in 2019, says she will end her Banyana career when she reaches 150 caps.
“Coach Desiree called me in November last year and promised me that if they have a friendly game, she will call me so I can get that one cap to reach the 150 milestone,” Nyandeni said.
“I’m really looking forward to it and that’s why I’ve been training hard, so that when the time comes I’m ready.
“I want my last time playing for the national team to be memorable. I don’t want people to be able to tell what age I am when I take to the field that day. I want them to think I’m one of the young players in the team.”
At four years from 40, Nyandeni is still one of the players turning heads in the HSL.
The veteran forward is among the players who received HSL awards in the 2021-22 season and who, as prizes offered by Hollywoodbets and its partner, La Liga, travelled to Spain last week to train with Villareal. Nyandeni was the HSL’s top goal scorer that season, finding the back of the net a staggering 30 times while playing for JVW FC.
The forward, who previously spent time playing in Russia for WFC Rossiyanka, credits discipline for her longevity.
At the World Cup they’ve managed to go through the group stages and saw their journey end in the last 16, I would love to see them reaching the quarterfinals in the Olympic Games.
— Mpumi Nyandeni
“Another thing I have prioritised over the years is to work hard and know what I want to achieve as a footballer,” she said, adding that hanging up her boots at club level has not entered her mind yet.
“Personally, no-one will ever tell me to retire because when I started playing football that person wasn’t there. I want to retire when I feel that I have had enough of playing football.
“For now, I’m keeping fit and I’m still pushing hard and even when I’m on the field, you can’t tell how old I am. Some even say the young players are older than me.”
Nyandeni has not been part of the Banyana set-up for the past few years but is proud of how the team — the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations [Wafcon] champions and first senior South African soccer side to progress past a World Cup group stage in Australasia last year — has developed. She hopes South Africa's upward curve on the international stage — something her generation of players, many of whom developed by plying their trade across the globe, has been heavily involved in — will continue.
“At the World Cup they’ve managed to go through the group stages and saw their journey end in the last 16, I would love to see them reaching the quarterfinals in the Olympic Games.
“Because if you check, we have a lot of players who are playing abroad. Recently we had Linda [Motlhalo] moving to America and Thembi [Kgatlana] has joined a club in Mexico and Hildah Magaia too.
“You can see that in South Africa we have good enough talent and I so wish that they do well in the Olympics and also defend the Wafcon.”
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