Banyana Banyana forward Jermaine Soposengwe welcomes his team to Mbombela on Tuesday in the halfway round of the Olympic qualifiers and wants his side to do even better than their 3-0 win over Tanzania. (Photo by Christian Kotze/Gallo Images).
- Banyana Banyana may have had a commanding victory in the first leg of the Olympic qualifiers in Dar es Salaam, but Soposengwe, one of the scorers, feels there is room for improvement.
- Banyana host Tanzania on Tuesday night in the halfway round of qualifying at Mbombela Stadium.
- If they advance from this round, they will face either Cameroon or Nigeria in the final qualifying match, with the winner becoming one of the two African representatives to participate in the tournament.
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Hard to please, Jermaine Soposengwe was happy with Banyana Banyana's 3-0 victory over Tanzania in the first leg of the Olympic qualifiers, but believes the team can improve, especially as the competition intensifies in the next round. Admitted.
Banyana overcame the rust in their first match since December 4, handily ousting Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on Friday and putting themselves in a good position for their return match in Mbombela on Tuesday night.
If Banyana advance from this stage, they will face either Cameroon or Nigeria in the final qualifying stage in April, which will pose the tougher challenge, with the winner of those two matches being the two representative players from Africa. One of the women's teams. at the Olympics in Paris later this year.
The West African giants were held to a goalless draw in the first leg in Douala on Friday. Abuja will host the return match on Monday. Soposengwe and his team competed in Rio and London, missing out on a spot at the last Tokyo Games, which would have been a hat-trick for the Olympics.
Soposenswe became a star for Banyana in Rio, wowing the Brazilian crowd with his skill and talent. She showed a clinical touch on Friday afternoon, scoring alongside Thembi Gatlana and Hilda Maguire.
“The team hasn't played together for a while. The (South Africa-based) players are coming back from pre-season (ahead of the domestic league kick-off),” Soposengwe told SAFA Media after the match in Dar. told. Es Salaam.
“The players from overseas had just started their season so it was tough to break them down.The players were heavy on their feet but we managed the game well.Thembi got on the scoresheet and Hilda too. We got on the scoresheet, which was great, our front three scored and played in patches.
“We know we can do more. It's a result of us not being together for a long time. I'm really proud of the team. We kept a clean sheet and the players really stepped up. “Lama (Lebogang Ramalepe) played great. “It was a great match for me. No one could get past her. I'm really proud of the team. We got what we got here.”
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The front three players once again showed their high quality and worked well together to score three points. Soposengwe is the brains of this trio, always showing up for good scoring opportunities and making the forwards the bigger threat when they don't have the ball.
Kgatlana is the central character, always fighting and showing tenacity to score goals, even from the most awkward angles.
Magaia is a soul. She is not only the reliable supplier of the trio, but also has the talent to achieve her goals. Especially when the chips are down. Katlana could be forced into an even bigger role on Tuesday if he does not recover from the injury that saw him leave the field on a stretcher just minutes before full-time.
“The players were brutal in front of goal. Hilda, myself and Thembi had a great season with our team,” Soposenwe said of the Mexico-based trio.
“We just brought that experience to the national team. It's great. We're just getting back into shape. The three of us know each other very well. We all played very well. Yes, here and there. Mistakes were made, but we grow and learn.
“At the end of the day we had a great team performance and a great away win. This is a trend that we haven't seen much of in the past in the Wafcon (women's Afcon) or in the Olympic qualifiers. We came together and worked together as a team. And they all did their job. “
It was Banyana's first away win since defeating Mozambique 7-0 in the 2022 Women's Afcon qualifier, which they won in Morocco. This highlights the challenging nature of away play on the continent, where wins on the road are worth the money.
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As a result, the team is almost certain to advance to the final Olympic qualifying round. But Soposengwe and his Banyana teammates are not thinking about that stage yet. The 3-0 win against Tanzania exposed some deficiencies in their arsenal, but coach Desiree Ellis will be looking to address them ahead of their trip to Mbombela.
“We need to control the game from the beginning. We need to set the tempo and work on what we did wrong,” Soposengwe said.
“We have to look at the film and look at what their weaknesses were because there were some moments where we built up really well. Noko (Mathou) and Karabo (Dlamini) We did a really good job and we want to do more of that and get more comfortable.''If we can have the ball, free ourselves and get into good spaces, we can get a good result at home.
“They tried to limit the space for me, Thembi and Hilda. They had a good game plan, but at the end of the day the quality of the team showed. We created chances and scored. “That was really important. We could have scored more. “But I don't think the manager will ask us to do more than that (in the away first leg). We need to be a little more determined from the start. There is.”