Banyana Banyana have pledged to send Nigeria packing during the Athens Olympic Games when the two African women’s football giants meet at the National Stadium in Abuja on Friday night after influential midfielder Mpumi Nyandeni was roped into the squad.
”The boss [Mpumi] is back and we are going to cause a major upset by beating Nigeria,” stressed South African women’s football national team technical adviser Augusto Palacios from the team’s training camp in Pretoria on Monday morning.
”Mpumi was not available when we played to a 2-2 draw with Nigeria during the first-leg match at Caledonian Stadium two weeks ago due to injury. She has fully recovered from the injury and is geared up for the Friday-night match.
”It is a do-or-die match. The overall winners of this qualifier will represent Africa during the Olympic Games in Greece in August. This is the last opportunity for us to redeem our dented image by beating Nigeria in their own backyard.
”We are sick and tired of being reminded that South Africa is still to beat Nigeria at national level since the country’s return to the international sports community in 1992. That will be history after Friday night’s match.
”We have been tightening up our defence at training to ensure that it does not leak as was the case during the first leg. We are also working hard to polish up our striking force to score as many goals as possible.”
”I have a very good working relationship with head coach Gregory Mashilo,” added Palacios, who has been working closely with Mashilo for the past six months to transform Banyana Banyana into the giant-killers of African women’s football.
”The support that we’ve been getting from all the South Africans after the first-leg match has been awesome. We would like to promise the whole of South Africa that we are going to make them proud in Nigeria.
”There is no two ways about Banyana Banyana making history by beating Nigeria to qualify for their first Olympic Games,” said Palacios, adding that the team will have their final training session at home at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria on Tuesday morning before leaving for Nigeria later in the day. — Sapa