Cape Town - Banyana Banyana have become a glowing advertisement for South African women's football and as the team is poised to finally conquer Africa, the chances of hosting the 2027 Fifa Women's World Cup are glowing red hot.
The South Africans will be appearing in the Women's African Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final for a sixth time when they run out against hosts Morocco in front of a capacity crowd at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday (start 10pm).
Before the start of the Wafcon, the first target was World Cup qualification and that was achieved after their quarterfinal win against Tunisia's Carthage Eagles. Next, the focus shifted to winning Wafcon but in the past 24 hours, there has been talk of bidding for the 2027 Fifa World Cup.
The president of the SA Football Association (Safa) Danny Jordaan has been leading the charge with talk of the 2027 women's global showpiece.
"Banyana Banyana are showing that South African football has established itself and their exploits in the tournament will play a huge role in our bid to have the 2026 World Cup hosting rights," said Jordaan, the man who pioneered SA's successful 2010 Fifa World Cup bid.
"If a team does well, it is easier to convince people that you’re a footballing nation and you can accommodate the world."
After the rallying call by Morocco’s coach Reynald Pedros, every Moroccan within earshot of the 53,000-seater stadium will make sure they are "the 12th, 13th, and 14th man”.
Pedros said the support of the Moroccan fans was "something incomparable" against Nigeria. A nine-man Morocco outfit did the unthinkable and outdid the 11-time champions Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out after extra time failed to separate the two sides.
Nigerian goalkeeper Cynthia Nnadozie who plays for Paris FC in the French Division 1 Féminine said the game was a personal nightmare experience.
"Since I have been playing football, this is the worst match I have ever played in my life," said Nnadozie who was named 'Woman of the Match'.
“The whole Moroccan team know that Nigeria is a great team, so to beat us they had to distract us. They did everything just to distract us.
“They (Morocco) won but this is not winning for me. The officiating (which resulted in two red cards for Nigeria) was not okay. If they were good enough, we were nine players against 11, they would have scored and won. That is to show you how great we are. They did everything they did just to distract us."
Morocco's 'Atlas Lionesses' have been one of the form sides at the 2022 tournament, along with South Africa and Zambia. Morocco have come on in leaps and bounds under the French-born coach Pedros who has equipped the side with an expansive game.
Although outplayed by Nigeria, the collective effort of the Moroccans did not allow the opposition to settle down. The Moroccans appeared to be the fitter side and chased down relentlessly.
The most telling aspect of the Moroccans' gameplan was their onslaught out wide down the flanks and the Nigerians had a problem with balls coming into the striking area from the flanks.
Banyana Banyana will be relying heavily on experience and half of the team played in the last final against Nigeria. It will be a useful component when dealing with a hostile environment and taking command of the game will quiet down Morocco's boisterous fans, who use their lasers to distract the opposition.
All that Banyana need to do is to repeat the performance they produced against Nigeria and that kind of dominance will put the match beyond Morocco, who may suffer from stage fright in their maiden final.
IOL Sport