Kaylin Swart, the goalkeeper of the South African female national team, has declared that the Bayana Bayana have an advantage over the Super Eagles in the forthcoming Paris 2024 qualifiers.
The goaltender, who asserted an interview with media outlet Sowetan Live, said that playing the second leg of the game in South Africa would be an added advantage for her team.
Swart, who was speaking ahead of the first leg set to be played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium on April 1, added that playing away first alleviates the pressure on her team.
“It’s always best to play away first, so I think we have an advantage against Nigeria as well. The last couple of qualifiers against DR Congo and Tanzania weren’t easy, but we managed to get a couple of goals away, and we came back home with confidence. Playing away first alleviates pressure, she said, per Sowetan Live.
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“The ooze and chants from the away fans are not the best, but I think we can use that as fuel to conquer. Yes, it’s going to be tough. Nigeria have a big following; they pack stadiums when they play at home, but we are up for the challenge and the hostility we’re going to face.”
She added that the Bayana Bayana will not be fazed at the prospect of facing the Super Falcons in Nigeria with their vociferous fans rooting for them next week.
“We’re pretty experienced enough to deal with that [hostile atmosphere]… we’ve played in Morocco against Morocco in front of almost 80,000 fans [in fact, the venue’s capacity is 53,000], who were against us, but we still prevailed,” Swart noted.
