Timed to perfection: How a Banyana training ground move ensured Kgatlana scored crucial winning goal

03.08.2023 - 10:15 news24.com

Any soccer coach will tell you that training sessions are specifically designed to mirror the challenges and dynamics encountered during actual matches.READ | 'Emotional' Banyana match-winner Kgatlana praises World Cup team-mates: 'Everyone deserves it'Nearly 24 hours before Banyana Banyana played their final FIFA Women's World Cup Group G clash against Italy, they were on the training field preparing for the crunch fixture.The national women's senior team had their backs against the wall, knowing that a victory was their only chance of securing a ticket to the tournament's last 16.Little did they know that their final training session was pivotal to them shocking world football and sinking the Italians with a stunning 3-2 victory in Wellington, New Zealand.Banyana had gone a goal behind as early as the 11th minute via a Arianna Caruso penalty before equalising late in the first half through an Italy own goal.

Eventually, Hildah Magaia's silky finish gifted Banyana the lead midway through the second stanza, but the Europeans struck back seven minutes later to level matters once more.

At this stage, Italy was guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds alongside Sweden, while Banyana were set to board an airplane within 48 hours.

But a tactical tweak by head coach Desiree Ellis changed the face of the match and in the 92nd minute, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Thembi Kgatlana and Magaia combined for a goal that would be etched in the memories of South Africans.In a breathtaking display of teamwork and skill, Seoposenwe skilfully controlled the ball on the wing.

soccer banyana Desiree Ellis Banyana Banyana Sweden Italy South Africa New Zealand

Banyana Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana put the blame firmly at the South African Football Association's door about the Tsakane Stadium fiasco and her refusal to speak to the media upon her return from the FIFA Women's World Cup.

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JOHANNESBURG : South Africa's surprise success in reaching the knockouts at the Women's World Cup has highlighted their inferior pay and resources when compared with the historically less successful men's team.

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Banyana Banyana vice-captain Thembi Kgatlana apologised for not speaking to the media at OR Tambo International last week when she returned to South Africa from the World Cup, explaining that her time in Australasia had been an emotional battle following the loss of three family members while she had been on national duty.

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Womens' Football Losing The Gap, But It's Not All Down To FIFA

In the 92nd minute of South Africa's drawn FIFA Women's World Cup match against football giant Italy, striker Hilda Magaia runs onto a pass at the top of the box. Magaia, who scored her country's first ever Women's World Cup goal a week earlier, springs past three lunging Italian defenders and curls the ball in to find Thembi Kgatlana, who blasts the ball into the net. South Africa, in its first Women's World Cup, is through to the round of 16. It is perhaps the most striking upset result of this World Cup, but far from the only one: Nigeria beating co-host Australia, Colombia's last-minute winner against Germany, Portugal holding the United States to a draw and Jamaica advancing at the expense of Brazil are signs of the closing gap in women's football that pundits are noticing.