From a coaching perspective, Fran Hilton-Smith paved the way for the current generation at Banyana Banyana, nurturing many a player who has gone on to achieve stardom at national level. Although the former SAFA technical director of women's football retired in 2019, her passion for women's football is something she will undoubtedly take with her to the grave. South Africa, in particular, lives in her veins. And with the 2023 FIFA World Cup currently underway in New Zealand and Australia, where her beloved Banyana are participants, the hexagenarian has been watching proceedings with a keen eye. In this interview, Smith schools Soccer Laduma's Zola Doda on how far she has come with some of Desiree Ellis' charges and reveals why she believes qualification for the knockout stages is a possibility despite the heartbreaking loss to Sweden.
Zola Doda: Fran, Banyana Banyana lost the opening match of the World Cup 2-1 to Sweden. What did you think of the game?
Fran Hilton-Smith: It was a very difficult game and we did well to score first. We were very unfortunate to concede in the last minute, but there are lots of positives we can take. The determination of the girls, they were 100 percent determined throughout the game. We scored first, it was a great goal and the start that we would have wanted and got. It was very unfortunate that Hildah Magaia went off injured because she is our key player in the strike force. Hildah was also our key player in the Wafcon tournament and the final match when we beat Morocco in the final. She scored both the goals and in this match against Sweden, she scored the opening goal. Losing her at that point of the match was very detrimental because she is a goal poacher.
ZD: Do you think the height of the Swedish players had a major impact on the result?
FHS: Having tall players is always an advantage and certainly the goal that they scored to win the game, the player who scored that goal was very tall and able to rise above our defenders who are not that tall. Height is always an advantage in defence and attack. It's an advantage to be tall in these matches. I mean, we've seen now in the Group H game between Germany and Morocco, it's the same kind of thing. The German players and their captain, who scored the two goals, are very tall. Height is always an advantage in these games.
ZD: What do our ladies need to improve before the crucial game against Argentina?
FHS: If you get any chances to score, you've got to take them. If you get chances, you have to convert them into goals because at this level, chances are not easy (to come) against these opponents. So, any chances you get, we really need to try and convert. Argentina lost their opening match 1-0 to Italy, so they are going to come out firing because for both teams, this is a must-win. It's going to be a very difficult game. The game between Argentina and Italy was quite physical, so any opportunity we get against Argentina, we have to capitalise.
ZD: Having watched almost all the opening group matches, what are your overall impressions?
FHS: Tactically, the teams are very strong, especially the experienced teams. They are very good at tactics and that's helped them. And very good at set-plays. I think that has been the decisive factor in the games that I've watched. The set-plays are very well-perfected. So, a lot of the goals are scored from crosses, from the wings or corners and free kicks.
ZD: It's been 30 years since Banyana played their first ever international match, against Swaziland in May 1993. When you look back, how much progress has this team made?
FHS: I think the biggest progress we have made or plus is that a lot of our players are now playing overseas professionally and that has made a big difference in the national team because these players are competing at the highest level in Europe. The second point is that, in this team currently at the FIFA Women's World Cup, 13 of the players – and in the Women's African Nations Cup, there were 14 – came through the High Performance Centre, which started 22 years ago. When I was the coach of Banyana Banyana, I realised that without the High Performance Centre, we are not going anywhere and that has made a lot of difference because the girls got good education, good training, good nutrition, medical support and all the necessary things you need to develop a player. Prior to that, the girls didn't have access to that and those two things have made a huge difference. SASOL, as a sponsor, also enables the girls to play competitive games against teams like Sweden, the Netherlands and USA, and that has given them a taste of high-level football. And of course, going to the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019 is something I've been talking to them about because I have been to every World Cup since 1995. You have to feel the World Cup to experience the highest stage in women's football.
ZD: What was the standard of football like when you were the coach compared to now?
FHS: Back then, the problem was…which is why I started the High Performance Centre… the girls would come to national team camp and they were often injured. The nutrition wasn't great and some of them were not going to school. Since 2001, I started doing work for FIFA as an instructor at World Cups and I always knew back then that we have fantastic players, skilful players who could do well if they have the right development. It's still a problem in our country because many of the coaches, due to problems which is not their fault, don't have a lot of qualifications. And in women's football, it's difficult and many of them were not really tactical. World football is very tactical. Coaches I've worked with, like the German world champion, Tina Theune, they were great tacticians and I realised we have to work on that.
ZD: Have we now developed?
FHS: We are lagging behind, not South Africa but Africa. Africa is lagging behind because we don't compete enough. We have Women's Afcon every two years and every fourth year counts as the World Cup qualifier. The only other competition is the CAF Champions League. In Europe, countries are so close to each other and they can play often because it's easy, but for us it's costly and difficult. For example, Nigeria, they have been to almost every World Cup since 1991, but they only reached the top 10 once in all that time, if I'm not mistaken. They have brilliant players as well. That shows that we need to compete on a regular basis. That is why I said it's so important that our girls play professional football because they are now playing with these European players and that is helping us to improve.
ZD: Is importing more players overseas the solution or do we need a professional league at home?
FHS: We need a more professional league and we also need school football. I've been lucky to travel with FIFA and CAF and, in my trips, I realised that in Germany and Sweden, kids start playing football at five years old and they are playing school leagues. We don't have a national school football league.
ZD: Do you think we can reach the knockout stages?
FHS: When we went to the first World Cup in France four years ago, I was fortunate to go there through FIFA. Thinking about that World Cup, there were lots of referee's decisions, yellow cards, red cards, penalties that on another day could have gone the other way. I think you have to feel the World Cup to learn what it's all about and the majority of our players were at that World Cup and learnt the lessons that needed to be learnt: Get over the nerves, get over the big stage, which is massive. With that experience, I really hope that they will get to the knockout stages of this World Cup. That is the expectation.
ZD: Sure.
FHS: I like to look at the positives. When we played Sweden in Cape Town, we drew with them and this time around we also almost drew with them. We must be optimistic that we can put out a good performance. That's what we want and every girl in that team must give 200 percent, and we can't ask for more than that. We expect them to do their absolute best. Some of them, like Kaylin Swart and Jermaine Seoposenwe, were at the 2010 U17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. These kinds of players have got the experience, a lot of them have played overseas. Nomvula Kgoale and Robyn Moodaly, they played in America and experienced football outside South Africa. We must hope that this will help the team to do well. The big crowd at FIFA World Cup is a different ball game. At Wafcon, there were 50 000 people at the stadium and the girls managed to pull through. We must hope they can do the same.
ZD: Which other Banyana players do you expect to perform well at this World Cup?
FHS: There are so many it's hard to pick names. I think Thembi Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia are prolific goal scorers. If I look at Jermaine, she qualified for World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Brazil and she even scored at the U17 World Cup against Germany. We lost the game, but she did well. She is expected to have the composure. Thembi helped us beat Nigeria and that was a mountain which took us many years to climb. Hildah scored two beautiful goals at Afcon. These are three players which I know we'll bank on to score goals. We have Andile Dlamini and Swart in goals, goalkeepers who are experienced. We have Noko Matlou who is still a highly-rated player – she has paid her dues as a striker and a defender. There is Refiloe Jane in the middle. The spine of the team is experienced. There are so many names. I expect all of them to stand up on the day.
ZD: What do you think of the work coach Desiree Ellis has done so far?
FHS: I'm proud of Desiree. I played with her when she was 15 and I was still young. Many years as the captain of the team is a hell of an achievement. I was one of the few women coaches in the country and as I developed at SAFA, I decided to get former Banyana Banyana players like Simphiwe Dludlu and Maude Khumalo to come and do the coaching courses so that we could have top qualified women in football and that really paid off. We currently have 27 women with CAF A Licences and that is more than the rest of Africa put together. I think I've left a legacy of coaches that are now involved. They are CAF A-licenced coaches and it's very important to have highly qualified and competent coaches.
ZD: What do you expect from this
team beyond the Women's World
Cup?
FHS: I expect a number of players to be signed professionally because we have great talent. When I started going to the FIFA Women's World Cup, I used to say to my colleagues who are instructors that we have the best players and they used to laugh at me. Now these players are playing professional and we are at the second World Cup. I hope many more get signed. And also get more young blood coming into Banyana Banyana. There are some youngsters who can be the future of football – some of the players like Noko are nearing the end of their careers. Janine van Wyk had an injury and we are hoping that these youngsters can be spotted overseas and signed professionally and make their mark in Banyana Banyana. World Cup is a big stage, but we must be positive because they know what is expected.
ZD: Franzo, thanks a lot for taking time to speak to Soccer Laduma readers.
FHS: My pleasure.
BANYANA BANYANA
– DID YOU KNOW?
• Mzansi's senior national women's team's first ever match was a 14-0 win over Swaziland on 30 May 1993, with ex-England international Terry Paine the side's first coach.
• In March 1995, they played their first ever FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier and were knocked out in the first round by Nigeria. The first leg away ended in a 4-1 defeat, with the return leg resulting in a 7-1 whopping.
• Current coach Desiree Ellis captained the team from 1994 to 2002.
• In February 2000, Banyana lost 2-0 to Netherlands. This was the first time the team played against a non-African country.
• In October 2003, China beat South Africa 13-0, which remains the team's heaviest defeat.
• Banyana are currently ranked 54th in the world. In 2005, the team was ranked 74, their lowest ranking.
• The 2012 London Olympics was the first time Ellis' charges qualified for a major international tournament.
