Banyana Banyana head coach, Vera Pauw has commended her players' efforts and performance despite their 2-0 defeat to Mexico in their opening game of the 2015 Cyprus Women's Cup.
Despite conceding two late second half goals to their Mexican counterparts, the Dutch mentor said she was proud of her charges who lacked competitive fitness after a three month lay-off, following their exit from the CAF African Women's Championships late last year.
"We gave Mexico a good game. We did not make it easy for them. They are fully match fit as they played in a tournament recently in January, and for us it was our first game in three months for most of the players.
"But be that as it may, I think our girls gave a good account of themselves and were a good measure against Mexico," said Pauw on the South African Football Association website.
"It's just unfortunate that we also lost through not so good officiating because the first goal came after the referee gave our opponents a throw-in instead of awarding it to us. Also, after watching the video of the penalty we were not given, I am now more convinced that we were dealt a raw deal," added the Banyana coach.
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The South Africans are using the tournament as part of their preparations for the All Africa Games qualifiers which get underway later this month, and the 2016 Rio Olympic qualifiers.
