JOHANNESBURG – Kaylin Jordaan, the Under-17 women’s national team captain, takes Njabulo Ngidi through their journey of qualifying for the World Cup in Uruguay later this year.
“We had a motto that kept us going. It said, be fresh, be fit and ready to conquer the world.
We haven’t conquered the world just yet but we have conquered one of our goals which is to go to the World Cup. It was a challenging and an exciting journey.
As one of three players (along with Karabo Dlamini and Sibulele Holweni) who had international experience, it wasn’t easy fulfilling the leadership role. I had to lead those who were finding their feet without alienating those who had been here before.”
“I believe that our experience helped them understand what was coming and how to adapt to that.
What I learnt in the 2016 qualifiers (with the Bantwana team that was thumped by Nigeria 7-0 in the second round) was that it’s not easy. You need determination and you will have to work hard for what you want.
We lost both games to Nigeria (beaten 6-0 in the first leg and 1-0 in the home leg). We played better in the second leg.
We fought but it wasn’t enough. The three of us who were a part of that team that lost to Nigeria were driven to make up for that by qualifying for the World Cup.”