Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Kaylin Swart has revealed the reason behind the national team’s success in the 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup.
The reigning African champions defied all odds in this year’s competition as they progressed to the next round, the knockout stages.
In their debut appearance in France [2019], Banyana were one of the worst teams. They exited the competition in the group stages without a single point and found the back of the net once.
This year they started the tournament slowly, suffering a 2-1 defeat to highly rated Sweden, next it was a disappointing 2-2 draw against Argentina, then lastly, they defeated Italy 3-2 in a hard-fought match.
SWART CREDITS HARD WORK, UNITY FOR BANYANA’S SUCCESS
According to the shot-stopper, the team is united, and they are working hard at training and during games to get positive results.
“I don’t think anyone thought that we’d get this far. The loss, the draw and now we won,” said Kaylin Swart.
“We knew what we were capable of doing, it shows hard work and keeping it within the team.
“Now we have to look forward to the next one and put up an even better performance.”
SWART ON QUALIFYING FOR THE WORLD CUP KNOCKOUT STAGES
Swart further revealed that she’s still in shock following their history-making success.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s still incredible. I’m even stumbling over my words. In the 28 years of my life, I wouldn’t thought this was going to happen,” she added.
“I think I’m going to take a little bit of time to realise what we did and for this generation to make history.
Banyana’s next task is a difficult one in the Round of 16. They will take on The Netherlands who are ranked ninth in the world.
Kickoff on Sunday, 6 August, at Allianz Stadium is at 4 am [SA time].
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