Cape Town - Banyana Banyana will have to re-jig their defensive systems ahead of the Olympic Games after they suffered a 4-1 defeat to New Zealand on Thursday.
In their last match before the showpiece tournament starts, Banyana were hoping to build their confidence further following an excellent showing in a 1-0 loss to Olympic and world champions United States a few weeks ago.
But they took a few steps backwards by conceding a hefty four goals, as a string of defensive errors cost them dearly against the Kiwis.
Banyana’s Twitter feed stated that New Zealand’s first goal, which was scored by striker Hannah Wilkinson in the 20th minute, was as a result of South Africa “failing to clear” the ball.
Twelve minutes later, star SA shot-stopper Roxanne Barker made a “goalkeeping error” which saw New Zealand’s other striker Amber Hearn score the second goal.
New Zealand got their third at around the hour mark through midfielder Annalie Longo, but Banyana did save some face as star striker Jermaine Seoposenwe pulled one back with an excellent effort five minutes later.
But that was the only joy for coach Vera Pauw and her team, as the Football Ferns rounded off an impressive display two minutes from time as Sarah Gregorious grabbed the fourth goal.
Banyana will have to find some inspiration soon as they take on sixth-ranked Sweden in their Olympic opener next Wednesday, August 3 before facing China and then hosts Brazil.
Coach Pauw and captain Janine van Wyk, though, are relieved that the 4-1 defeat didn’t happen in the actual tournament. “It was a good opportunity to get our feet on the ground,” Pauw told the Sascoc website.
“The team just needs to get around various hiccups in planning, and that’s why we were not at our sharpest today. This was our final practice game before the real deal next week.”
Van Wyk added: “(It was) frustrating… we can play so much better than that. But actually I’d rather lose this match than a ‘real’ match. Today we didn’t play as a team and conceded some very soft goals. Now we must just practice hard and fix things before our first game.”