THE current Banyana Banyana crop will go into the history books of South African women's football.
This after they became the only women's national squad to qualify for the Olympics when they booked themselves a passage to the 2012 London Games.
Again last night, they overcame what initially seemed an insurmountable task when they kicked out their nemesis, Nigeria, from the African Women Championship - in the process recording their first ever win over the west Africans since Banyana were formed in 1993.
Banyana are now more determined to win the continental women's showpiece for the first time in history.
The Joseph Mkhonza-trained side beat The Super Falcons 1-0 to reach the final of the eighth instalment of the continental tournament in Equatorial Guinea last night.
The all-important goal was scored by Janine "Booth" van Wyk in the 24th minute. "We are going to deliver on our promise of taking the title to South Africa for the first time, but we do not expect an easy game," Van Wyk said.
"It feels good to have scored ... but it was a team effort. It's a historic achievement for us," she said.
The wily Mkhonza described their fate last night as "great achievement".
"I congratulate the entire team for such a historic result. I thought we played well as a unit as we did our homework in preparing for Nigeria, and I'm happy everything went according to plan. It's one result I will cherish for the rest of my life," he said.
"We (technical staff) have been watching all their (Nigeria's) games in this tournament and that helped us a great deal to prepare for today's (last night's) match. Nigeria started panicking after we scored an early goal and I kept on telling our players that we need to exert more pressure on them. They did not disappoint.
"But there is no time to celebrate Nigeria's win, we have to start preparing ourselves for the final. We will celebrate after winning the final."
Safa national executive committee member Nomsa Mahlangu last night praised Banyana for beating Nigeria.
"It's so wonderful to be in the final, especially after beating the giants of African soccer.
"I have no doubt we will reach the 2015 Fifa Women's World Cup finals in Canada. We just need to keep on supporting Banyana Banyana," an elated Mahlangu said.
Banyana break Nigeria stranglehold
THE current Banyana Banyana crop will go into the history books of South African women's football.
This after they became the only women's national squad to qualify for the Olympics when they booked themselves a passage to the 2012 London Games.
Again last night, they overcame what initially seemed an insurmountable task when they kicked out their nemesis, Nigeria, from the African Women Championship - in the process recording their first ever win over the west Africans since Banyana were formed in 1993.
Banyana are now more determined to win the continental women's showpiece for the first time in history.
The Joseph Mkhonza-trained side beat The Super Falcons 1-0 to reach the final of the eighth instalment of the continental tournament in Equatorial Guinea last night.
The all-important goal was scored by Janine "Booth" van Wyk in the 24th minute. "We are going to deliver on our promise of taking the title to South Africa for the first time, but we do not expect an easy game," Van Wyk said.
"It feels good to have scored ... but it was a team effort. It's a historic achievement for us," she said.
The wily Mkhonza described their fate last night as "great achievement".
"I congratulate the entire team for such a historic result. I thought we played well as a unit as we did our homework in preparing for Nigeria, and I'm happy everything went according to plan. It's one result I will cherish for the rest of my life," he said.
"We (technical staff) have been watching all their (Nigeria's) games in this tournament and that helped us a great deal to prepare for today's (last night's) match. Nigeria started panicking after we scored an early goal and I kept on telling our players that we need to exert more pressure on them. They did not disappoint.
"But there is no time to celebrate Nigeria's win, we have to start preparing ourselves for the final. We will celebrate after winning the final."
Safa national executive committee member Nomsa Mahlangu last night praised Banyana for beating Nigeria.
"It's so wonderful to be in the final, especially after beating the giants of African soccer.
"I have no doubt we will reach the 2015 Fifa Women's World Cup finals in Canada. We just need to keep on supporting Banyana Banyana," an elated Mahlangu said.
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