Johannesburg - Amanda Dlamini has described Banyana Banyana’s match against the No 1 ranked United States of America, in their own backyard in Chicago, as a perfect dress-rehearsal for the Olympics where they’re drawn against the hosts Brazil.
For many of Dlamini’s teammates this was the biggest match of their lives, Banyana coming up as they did against the reigning world champions in front of close to 20 000 fans on Saturday.
“When we got into the stadium, we saw how big it was and we anticipated a huge crowd that would fill it to capacity,” Dlamini said upon their return on Monday. “We have never experienced such a crowd at home."
Incredibly, they weren’t overawed by the occasion – the South African women's senior team merely losing the match 1-0 despite coach Vera Pauw having said she wouldn’t be surprised if the Americans hammered them.
They can expect triple that number in Rio de Janeiro when they come up against Brazil at the Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange, that seats 60 000, on August 9 when they play their second match in the Olympics.
Clashes with Sweden and China sandwich the meeting with Selecao. But when Dlamini and company get there, they would have shaken any stage fright that might creep in when they come up against a world class team in front of a vocal home crowd.
"Having experienced that atmosphere prepared us well for the Olympics where we will also play the hosts. It helped us taste how it will be and how we can handle that pressure. USA were highly experienced and very tactical and that added to our experience.
"Because when you look at the games we played against Netherlands, you can see the progress that we have made. We are more disciplined and are working together as a team. We are heading in the right direction. But there is a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Banyana have less than a month to work on their shortfalls before they start the Olympics against Sweden on August 3. Six days before that game, they will play New Zealand as part of their last preparations for the showpiece.
At the top of their agenda is improving their scoring ratio after they failed to score in their last three matches against top teams - USA and the Netherlands twice.“We are organised very well defensive wise,” Dlamini said.
“We move to the final third well. We just need to work on converting our chances. Against big teams there will be times where you only get one chance, if you fail to convert that chance then you won’t get another one.
"We need to work as a collective and ensure that we all pitch up with goals, not just only strikers.”
Upon the squad's return from USA on Monday night, Dlamini was presented with a framed jersey with the number 100. It was to celebrate her winning her 100th cap in national team colours.
She joined Janine van Wyk, Portia Modise, Nompumelelo Nyandeni and Noko Matlou who have reached that milestone in women’s football. It was a low-key affair because there is a lot of work to be done after Pauw announces the 22-member squad she will take to Brazil on Thursday.
Four of those will be on standby.
Meanwhile, coach Thabo Senong feels the national Under-20 side (Amajita) will need to go on a longer camp if they are to see themselves build on a 2-0 cushion they produced against Lesotho this past weekend.
Ahead of their first leg, final round encounter of the 2017 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Senong had expressed concerns about the fitness levels of his players as most of them had been out of football action for long.
But he was pleased with his team's overall performance in Lesotho and he hopes they can produce an even much better result in their second leg.
The winners will qualify for next year's tournament in Zambia.“We went into this camp with very low fitness levels as the boys had not been in action for the past three weeks,” Senong said.
“However, I’m pleased the boys gave a good account of themselves. This (result) will give us the needed advantage to qualify for the tournament.
"There were moments, however, in the match were I felt that Lesotho were far much better us. Our goalkeeper (Mondli Mpoto) had to step up on a few occasions to help keep us in the game. All we need do now is rectify some of the minor mistakes. We would also like to start earlier with our preparations than we did in our previous camp,” Senong added.
“I’m thinking a ten day camp might see us being far much more prepared than we were in the first leg.
The Star