On Banyana Banyana’s failure to qualify for 2024 Olympic Games
Failing to beat Nigeria in the second leg of the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers was obviously a disappointing result for the country, the team and some individuals who have never qualified for the tournament. I think the performance was not of quality. If you compare it with the games that we played at the 2023 FIFA World Cup, it was far off the standard that Banyana Banyana is capable of as a team. Maybe it was because of the pressure that the players were under, being 1-0 down from the first leg in Nigeria, maybe (in the second leg) they played more cautiously even though they were expected to go out (and attack). They should have changed the formation to try and get that goal as early as possible to turn the game (around). But it felt like they were just playing cautiously not to concede again – I don’t think they played to their full potential. The standard that we have seen from Banyana Banyana, it’s a massive disappointment for everyone. But at some point, we have to sit and reflect on where we went wrong because it’s very difficult to sustain success. We have been at the FIFA World Cup twice (in 2019 and 2023), we have been at the Olympic Games twice (2012 and 2016), we have just come off a high after performing well at the 2023 World Cup. And to sustain that kind of form and performance is a very difficult task for any athlete. There will be, at some point, some downfalls. This was a moment that was crucial for us to determine the qualification for the 2024 Olympic, which we failed. One could question the players that came in. For example, captain Refiloe Jane, obviously is an instrumental player for Banyana Banyana but she just came back from injury to fitting in straight into these two games against a very tough opponent. You could see that she wasn’t at her full potential, which is something that is crucial for the link of the team, because she is in the midfield. And they just didn’t seem to connect properly. But like I said, it’s a game of football and this is what athletes have to experience because you can’t always have expectations of success. Success is not always consistent. One has to fail in order to lift yourself and reflect on where it all went wrong in order to improve.
