Banyana Banyana have booked their spot in the semifinal of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco, after they beat Senegal 4-1 on penalties.
This after the match ended at 0-0 during regulation time at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco.
Both teams wasted golden opportunities to clinch the match on regulated time, with the South Africans the worst culprit.
The Lionesses of Teranga failed to take advantage of Banyana’s sloppy defence inside three minutes when Nguenar Ndiaye failed to put one past goalkeeper Andile Dlamini in a one-on-one situation.
Banyana were also given an excellent opportunity 21 minutes later, when Jermaine Seoposenwe failed to take advantage of a defencing error by Ndèye Casset, but the strikers effort was blocked by the Senegalese goalkeeper.
Following 120 minutes of deadlock, the match went into the dreadful penalties, which saw Dlamini became the team sensation when she saved two penalties during the shootout.
Karabo Dhlamini, Tiisetso Makhubela, Gabriela Salgado and Bambanani Mbane scored their penalties to give Banyana a chance of defending their title.
Coached Dr Desiree Ellis heaped praise at the players.
“We have been practicing penalties, and we knew who our kickers were going to be and that’s why we made the changes we made.
We always knew that Andile can save one or two, she had done it before.
This was our first penalty shoot victory in the WAFCON, we lost it in 2006 and in 2018 in the final.
I don’t have enough words to describe this team, the resilience, the courage, the never-say-die attitude, the willingness to fight for each other.
No matter what they threw at us we were able to withstand that,” said Dr Ellis.
Banyana will now meet their foes Nigeria in the semifinal on Tuesday at Stade Larbi Zaouli in Casablanca.
