Banyana Banyana owe it to every South African to beat Nigeria and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. And this will be the cherry on top after we won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 and also reached the Last 16 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last year. Banyana Banyana became the first South African team to reach the knockout stage of a World Cup. Two years earlier they had failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after getting knocked out by Botswana. And while qualifying for the Olympic Games for the first time since 2016 is good enough to encourage the team ahead of Friday’s first leg, beating Nigeria is also important for several reasons.
In 1993, just one year after South African football was readmitted to international football, 1966 World Cup winner Terry Paine was given the responsibility of being the first Banyana Banyana coach. And his first match in charge was a relatively easy 14-0 win against Swaziland. And after knocking out Zambia and Angola at the 1995 African Women’s Championship quarterfinal and semifinals, Banyana Banyana met Nigeria in the final where they suffered a humiliating 11-2 defeat on aggregate. Super Falcons beat Banyana Banyana 4-1 in the first leg in Nigeria before winning the return leg 7-1 at Rand Stadium.
The win also handed the Nigerian side a ticket to the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Sweden. Five years later, the two teams met again at the final of the 2000 African Women’s Championship played at Vosloorus Stadium. But the match will forever be remembered for the ugly scenes off the field than the beautiful football on it. With Nigeria leading 2-0 in the second half, a riot broke out in the stands after supporters started throwing objects and bottles at match officials and five people were reportedly injured. The match was eventually called off and Nigeria were crowned African champions on South African soil. And since then, the rivalry between the two sides has gone from strength to strength with the Super Falcons also beating Banyana Banyana to qualify for the 2004 Olympic qualifiers. But while there was a time when Nigeria had the upper hand and dominated the fixture, over the years Banyana Banyana have grown in leaps and bounds. Gone are the days when Nigeria knew before kick off that they were going to beat Banyana Banyana. Banyana Banyana are certainly not the same team they were over 20 years ago.
