Banyana Banyana striker Thembi Kgatlana has reacted after the South African female national team lost 0-1 to the Super Falcons of Nigeria in the first leg of the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifier.
The player, who reacted immediately after her team lost to the Super Falcons in the game played in Abuja on Friday, said that her team will do everything to win the second leg at home.
Kgatlana stated that the second leg, which will be played next Tuesday, is a must-win for Bayana Bayana because they will be at home and will be playing in familiar conditions.
“The end result will be on Tuesday,” Kgatlana told reporters after the game.
“We will be at home, familiar with the conditions, that will be advantage.” She added.
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Kgatlana’s optimism was also shared by Bayana Bayana coach Desiree Ellis, who said that there is still plenty to play for in the second leg of the 2024 Olympics qualifier.
While reacting to the game’s outcome, in which Rasheedat Ajibade scored the winning goal from the penalty spot two minutes before the break for the Super Falcons, Ellis said that her team would turn things around in the second leg.
“Look, we said it was going to be a tight game, but we are hopeful of overturning this result in the second leg,” Ellis was quoted by Safa.net.
“We are still in the game. We created a couple of chances; a penalty decided the match, but the game is not over. I thought in the second half we raised our game a lot, created good chances, and could have equalized.
“Maybe we could also have gotten a penalty at the end when Jermaine was fouled, but I’m very proud of the team, and we will take it back to Pretoria.”
