Banyana Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana has revealed that she lost three family members in the last three weeks and could've gone home but 'stuck with the girls' despite the criticism, after they made history at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Kgatlana scored the winning goal in Banyana's 3-2 win over Italy on Wednesday morning in their last game of Group G, in stoppage time, as South Africa won a World Cup match for the first time and also qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in their history.
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The Racing Louisville forward, who was out for almost a year with an Achilles tendon injury sustained at the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, says it was a tough period for her during the camp after she lost three family members in the space of three weeks.
"So emotional, you know I've been in camp each and every day, I chose to be with this team, we got a lot of criticism but it's football you know," Kgatlana said in a post-match interview with FIFA.
"Over the last three weeks I've lost three family members, I could have went home but I chose to stay with my girls because that's how much it means.
"I came back from a very brutal injury, for me to be here to play for a country, to represent every single girl that wanted to be here, to make history with the girls for South Africa, I mean everyone deserves it. It was a team effort," she said.
"We might have messed up the two games but this one it's something that I think we had to dig deep and as you can see, the girls are happy, we've made history," she added.
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