Banyana Banyana returned back home to a heroes’ welcome after finishing as runners-up in the 2018 AWCON and as a result qualifying for the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever.
The final of the 2018 African Women Nations Cup (AWCON) is upon us with old foes Super Falcons of Nigeria will be taking on the Bayana Bayana of South Africa in Accra.
Falcons Striker Rasheedat Ajibade believes that class and experience will help Super Falcons beat the Bayana Bayana of South Africa to retain the AWCON title they won in Cameroon in 2016.
Super Falcons midfielder, Halimatu Ayinde has assured Nigerians that the team will do everything they can to emerge victorious in the Saturday’s final of Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana.
Bayana Star and tournament top scorer Thembi Kgatlana believes Nigeria is under pressure to retain the title they won in Cameroon two years ago.
The two teams will slug it out in the tournament for the second timeat the Accra Sports Stadium, after they clash in Cape Coast foropening game which was won by the Bayana Bayana..
“I don’t think we have much expectations. We’ve got nothing to lose,” Kgatlana, who netted the goal that handed the South Africans victory in the first meeting.
“We definitely worked hard to get to the final. It’s going to be a tough one against Nigeria.
“We played them in the first group match of the tournament. The final is going to be a different ball game.
“They’ll want to play for their pride because they wouldn’t want South Africa to beat them twice. But it’s the final and it’s for anyone. It’s there for the taking.”
The Dash Ace striker rejected the claim that her side are under pressure to repeat their group stage dominance over the Nigerians, but admits they have absolutely nothing to lose.
“I don’t think we’re under any pressure to win. Nigeria are the ones under pressure because they need to defend their title,” she said.
“We’ve accomplished what we came to accomplish which is to qualify for the World Cup. Getting to the final is good for us, especially for our confidence. And we’re looking forward to that.
“Scared is not the word I’ll use [to describe our state]. We’re not scared of them because we showed that football is beyond Nigeria and we’re able to beat Nigeria when we have a good team.
“I don’t think we’re going there with the aim of beating them. Our aim is to play for the pride of the nation.”
Kgatlana is the leading goalscorer at the tournamentteam, having find the back of net on five occasions enroute to the final.
“I’m not surprised about my performance,” the 22-year-old revealed.
“I’m just overwhelmed to see how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown. It’s something that the team needed and I was there to score the goals.
South Africa female coach Desiree Ellis has expressed delight following her team’s qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France next year.
Super Falcons Number 1 Goalkeeper, Tochukwu Oluehi has shared her delight after the team’s passage into the finals of the AWCON 2018 going on in Ghana.
Bayana Bayana of South Africa led by 158-capped Captain, Janine Van Wyk will look to win their first African Women Cup of Nations title when they face Nigeria in Accra on Saturday.
The South Africans had already created a history for themselves by qualifying for their first Women’s World Cup finals after beating Mali in the second semi-final of the 11th African Women Cup of Nations.
With a chance to face Nigeria in the final at stake, both sides started brightly and saw penalty appeals waved away by the referee in the opening twenty minutes.
The Bayana Bayana drew the first blood in the 30th minutes after Mali failed to clear a ball and allowed in–form Thembi Kgatlana to slam it home beyond goalkeeper Adoudou Konate.
The goal took Kgatlana‘s tally to five after scoring in all four games at the competition so far.
Mali responded well by pressing for an equaliser and came closer in the second half, but after the early pressure from the Malians both sides struggled to create anything meaningful, until nine minutes from time when Lebohang Ramalepe’s effort beat Konate again to seal the victory for South Africa.
The Malians will now battle the indomitable Lioness of Cameroon for the third place and last Africa‘s World Cup slot, while South Africa will play Group B rivals Nigeria for the title with both side through to the next year’s World Cup in France.
Nigerian born Equatorial Guinea attacker Chinasa Okoro, says the Nzalang Nacional will work hard to beat the Bayana Bayana as both teams clash on Wednesday 2018 AWCON.
Equatorial Guinea were beaten 5-0 by Zambia in their first game on Sunday and will face early exit from the competition should they suffer another loss to South Africa.
The Nzalang has won three of their last four meetings with the south Africans and Okoro believes her side can bank on their impressive records over Bayana Bayana.
“First of all, we didn’t have time to prepare ourselves for this competition,” Okoro said at Tuesday’s press conference.
“The match against Zambia was very difficult for us, with some of our players coming here with injuries.
“Our coaches have worked on correcting our mistakes in Monday’s training. I know against South Africa, it will be a different game.
The attacker also added that they are the second best on the continent behind the Super Falcons but the team suffered from the qualification problem with CAF.
“Against South Africa, we will push for a win because we are the second best in Africa after Nigeria. We had a problem with Caf on our players and about 10 of them are not here to help the team.
“We came here with the possible players we think the team can afford just to compete in the tournament.
We are going to give our best against South Africa and personally I will also give my best to help my team get a positive result.” She said.
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