Soccer

Van Wyk breaks African record as Banyana seal Wafcon spot

The victory was important for Banyana, who might be trying to defend their Wafcon title.

Banyana Banyana secured their spot on the Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) after beating Burkina Faso 2-0 on the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria on Monday to finish a 3-1 mixture victory within the ultimate spherical of qualifying.

Banyana and Burkina Faso performed to a 1-1 draw within the first leg, performed within the Ivory Coast – a impartial venue – earlier than Banyana received the return leg at residence.

The victory was important for Banyana, who might be trying to defend their Wafcon title having received the event two years in the past for the primary time of their historical past.

Securing the spot for the continental competitors was not the one celebration for the South Africans, as the sport towards Burkina Faso additionally noticed defender Janine van Wyk set the record for essentially the most capped worldwide participant on the continent as she marked her 185th recreation for Banyana.

Van Wyk, who might be hanging her boots, solely performed eight minutes earlier than she was changed by Lebogang Ramalepe.

Burkina Faso, who’re ranked 135th within the Fifa world rankings, gave Banyana a troublesome recreation and made the Desiree Ellis’ prices work arduous for his or her victory.

The West African staff used their bodily superiority to cease most of the Banyana assaults. The residence aspect managed to dictate the play, however issues didn’t go properly when it got here to making an attempt to get a objective.

There was a extremely good try from Jermaine Seoposenwe within the first 10 minutes of the match, however her header went over the bar.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso didn’t actually pose any menace in entrance of objectives, with Banyana keeper Kaylin Swart barely getting any motion within the match.

The match went into half time with the rating at 0-0 and loads to play for within the second half.

There was an enormous desperation for a objective for the house aspect, however, Desiree Ellis tried to be as affected person as attainable, with Thembi Kgatlana upfront being stored quiet by the guests.

Breakthrough

A promising assault noticed Ramalepe being introduced down contained in the field and the referee known as for a penalty, which was ultimately slotted intothe again of the web properly by Linda Motlhalo within the 55th minute.

Substitute Nicole Michaels sealed the victory with the second of the match after outrunning Burkina Faso defence earlier than slotting the ball properly into the web.

Next 12 months’s Wafcon finals might be hosted in Morocco for the second successive version. 


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