MIHLALI BALEKA
SOUTH AFRICA 0
NIGERIA 0
Nigeria won 1-0 on aggregate
Banyana Banyana yet again failed to qualify for the Olympic Games after losing to arch-rivals Nigeria in the final qualifier.
Banyana drew 0-0 with the Super Falcons on Tuesday night at Loftus, but that subjected them to a loss in the tie after losing 1-0 in the first leg in Abuja. The defeat will sting for coach Desiree Ellis as it’d have been a crowning moment after she won the Wafcon and qualified for back-to-back World Cups.
What will add to the pain for Ellis is failing to make up for last edition in Tokyo and losing to an arch-rival that knows very well at the final hurdle.
Before this tie, Banyana had played and beaten Nigeria in the last two meetings – the Aisha Buhari Cup and 2022 Wafcon which they eventually won. But that history counted for nothing, with the Nigerians flipping the script from the past to ensure Busayo Ajibade’s penalty from the first leg won the tie.
Coach Desiree Ellis and some of her charges sang hymns of positives on turning the tide on its head, but they still had to play the game and score. And after 180 minutes of actions, it was still the Super Falcon that prevailed, Ajibade’s penalty having done the business to get the team to the Paris finals.
Banyana didn’t have the scoring instinct in Loftus as the Super Falcons absorbed every pressure that came their way from start to finish.
Banyana had a decent first half compared to the sluggish one in Abuja last Friday as they put their foot more on the ball, but they didn’t penetrate. The team’s failure to create scoring chances was their blemish as they were high on fuel in their tank not only from sponsors Sasol but the crowd as well.
For a mid week and women’s football game, this was a turnout in the capital. The grandstand behind the dugouts was almost filled to capacity.
The opposite end was also filled nicely, with the visiting crowd hoisting the green and white flag, cajoling their team on in the rivalry’s territory.
That support nearly spurred the visitors into a quick breakthrough that could have stunned Loftus but Jennifer Echegini headed straight into Kaylin Swart. Had Echigini converted that would have stung for Ellis, who had made three changes to the starting line-up that played in Abuja.
Noxolo Cesane and Nomvula Kgoale replaced Hildah Magaia and Noko Matlou as Ellis adopted a more offensive and directive approach. But it was the day’s centurion Lebohang Ramalepe that earned her pay cheque in the first half in defence, repelling all the danger Nigeria threw at them.
Things could have gotten better for Banyana after the half-an-hour mark as they started to string together some beautiful passes. But that didn’t bear fruit as the Nigerians hung on for a goalless half – to take a huge step closer into reaching the promised land: the Paris finals.
Ellis rang the changes early in the second half, bringing on Sinoxolo Cesane, who missed out on the trip to Abuja, and Magaia for Sinoxolo’s twin, Noxolo, and Kgoale.
The duo brought on some vigour to Banyana’s attacking unit, propelled by the locals who belted out the mbobo vuleka hymn in search of an equaliser. But such was the stubbornness of the Super Falcons that they stood firm as Banyana futilely threw the kitchen sink at them to win the tie 1-0 on aggregate in the capital.