Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Kaylin Swart believes it’s helpful for them to start by playing against Nigeria in the final round of the Olympics qualifiers, aiming to use the probably unfriendly atmosphere as motivation to secure qualification for the Olympics.
Banyana will face the Super Falcons on Friday in Abuja, and then play against them at Loftus Versfeld Stadium four days later. With Andile Dlamini out of the squad for medical reasons, Swart is certain to start against Nigeria, as the two goalkeepers have been taking turns recently.
“It’s always better to play away first, so I think we have an advantage against Nigeria as well. In the previous qualifiers against DR Congo and Tanzania, it was difficult, but we managed to score a few goals away and came back home with confidence. Playing away first reduces pressure,” Swart said.
“The jeers and cheers from the opposing fans are not ideal, but I believe we can use that as motivation to triumph. Yes, it’s going to be challenging… Nigeria has a large following; they fill up stadiums when playing at home, but we are ready for the challenge and the hostility we will face.”
The Banyana goalkeeper is counting on the team’s experience to be useful against the Super Falcons in front of their fans, remembering how they defeated hosts Morocco in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final at a sold-out Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat in July 2022.
“We’re quite experienced to handle that (unfriendly atmosphere)… we’ve played in Morocco against Morocco in front of nearly 80,000 fans (even though the venue’s capacity is 53,000), who were against us but we still succeeded,” Swart noted.
