National women’s soccer team Banyana Banyana met former president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday to get some his Madiba magic ahead of the fifth African Women’s championships in Nigeria.
”I wish the best team wins and I know you are the best team,” he told the players, shaking hands and joking with them in Johannesburg.
The team’s administrative manager Fran Hilton-Smith said the team had been trying for eight years to meet Mandela.
”We firmly believe this will give us the impetus to do well,” she said. Team captain Portia Modise said: ”We’ve come to have him give us some of his magic”.
Banyana Banyana play their first match against Algeria on October 28. — Sapa