THE Women’s national soccer team, Banyana Banyana, have concluded their training in the country and will leave to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics Games.
The national team, sponsored by Sasol, will take part for the second time in the Olympics when they take on the best in the world. The 2016 Olympic Games will take place in Rio de Janeiro from Friday, August 5 to Sunday, August 21.
Banyana Banyana will compete against top-flight teams such as the USA, the number-one ranked team currently in the world. They are drawn in Group E and their first match will be against Sweden. The other two teams in the group are the hosts Brazil, and China PR. Altogether 12 teams will compete in the three groups (E, F and G).
“We are not sure what will happen when we take on the best teams in the world, but we have done all our preparation,” said head coach Vera Pauw. “We will play a practice match against the number one team in the world, the USA. Maybe they will beat us five or ten nil, but this is a learning curve and the USA will put Banyana under pressure, which is good for the Olympics as each match will be filled with pressure during the competition.”
The team have utilised Waterstone College in the South for their last preparation in South Africa before they have left for Brazil.
