They’ve done everything they could, and now it’s show-time for Banyana Banyana at the Rio Olympics.
The national women’s football team will be the first South Africans in action at the 2016 Olympic Games when they tackle Sweden at the Maracana Stadium in Rio on Wednesday (6pm SA time kickoff).
And after a mixed run of performances and results in the build-up to the Games, coach Vera Pauw feels her team is prepared for any eventuality against the top-class Swedes, who are ranked sixth in the world compared to Banyana’s 52nd.
South Africa lost twice to The Netherlands (1-0 and 2-0) away from home, but made the world sit up and take notice in a commendable performance against world and Olympic champions USA despite going down 1-0 in Chicago.
But Pauw’s charges were thrashed 4-1 by 17th-ranked New Zealand in Rio last Thursday, although they will have to put that behind them against Sweden. “We are ready, we can’t wait for the game,” the coach said at a pre-match press conference, according to the SA Football Association website.
“I believe we have done everything we can possibly do to get ready. I want to remind everybody that we are 52nd on the world rankings, so the expectations should not be that we are going to win against Sweden, but we will do the best we can to get a victory.
“The key though is that we should not play as cowards and should have no fear. If we play as a unit, as one team, we stand a good chance of winning, but if we don’t work as a team, it will be very difficult for us.
“The bottom line is that it is a major tournament, it is the first match after a huge preparation and we have to show it now. We have to show South Africa where we are going. All we have to do is show the absolute will to win, that is what people can expect from us. They should also expect us to do everything in our power to be victorious.”
Banyana will be hoping for a different outcome against Sweden compared to the 2012 London Olympics, where they lost 4-1 to the same opponents in the corresponding fixture. Pauw reported that striker Linda Motlhalo is the only injury concern after sitting out practice for two days, but US-based Jermaine Seoposenwe is expected to lead the South African attack.
Seoposenwe, who hails from Cape Town, scored the winning goal against Equatorial Guinea in Bata last December that qualified South Africa for the Rio Olympics, and also bagged Banyana’s only goal against New Zealand last week.
* Follow @IOLsport on Twitter for live updates of Banyana’s match against Sweden (6pm kickoff), as well as wall-to-wall coverage of Team South Africa throughout the Olympics.
@ashfakmohamed - Independent Media