Banyana
Banyana found themselves on the end of a 4-0 drubbing by hosts Equatorial
Guinea in the final of the 8th CAF African Women Championship, played in Malabo
on Sunday.
The
Sasol-sponsored South African national senior women’s team travelled to the
Malabo New Stadium in high spirits having outplayed Africa’s No 1 side Nigeria
1-0 in Bata on the mainland on Wednesday, but came unstuck against a determined
home side. The hosts went into the break with a 1-0 lead after Gloria Chinasa
took advantage of some poor defensive work to head home from a corner kick in
the 43rd minute.
Playing
in front of 20 000 passionate home fans, Equatorial Guinea doubled their lead
in the 66th minute when second half substitute Tiga Costa scored with her first
touch of the ball.
The
home side were 3-0 up four minutes later, when midfielder and captain Genoveva
Anonman made the South Africans pay for some sloppy defending. In the 72nd
minute, Chinasa scored her second goal of the title-deciding match, after a
fine run on the left before scoring from a tight angle past an outstretched
Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Thoko Mndaweni.
Only
Banyana Banyana captain and midfielder Amanda Dlamini looked the part on the
biggest football stage in African women’s football, with a solid display in her
efforts to launch attacks on the home team’s goal area.
While
disappointed with the result, the outcome marks the end of a hectic 2012
campaign for the national side, which saw them in camp early in January in
preparation for the London Olympics held in July.
The
South African team will also be patiently waiting on the latest FIFA and
African points rankings to be made public, having travelled to Malabo ranked
56th in the world (up from 61st in July) and 4th in Africa (behind Nigeria,
Equatorial Guinea and All-Africa Games champions Cameroon).
In
the playoff for third and fourth places, Cameroon outplayed Nigeria 1-0.
Speaking
after the match, Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza said: “Falling at
the final hurdle is a major disappointment to all involved with Banyana
Banyana, particularly after the fine effort put in to record our national
team’s first ever win over Nigeria in the semi-finals last week.”
Note: Banyana Banyana
will touch down at O.R Tambo International Airport (international arrivals) at
09h50 on Tuesday, 13 November 2012.
