Africa’s most-capped player bows out

It’s been an illustrious 17-year career with Banyana Banyana for Janine van Wyk, capped off when she amassed a remarkable record-breaking 185 international caps for the senior national women’s team against Burkina Faso last Monday.

Van Wyk’s brief appearance in that Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifier made her the most-capped player for any country in Africa, male or female, moving past Egyptian star Ahmed Hassan (184 caps).

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It was a send-off fitting for a true legend of the game and a great ambassador of women’s football, as Banyana beat the West Africans 3-1 on aggregate to book a spot at next year’s Wafcon finals in Morocco.

For a girl who grew up in Alberton on the East Rand, reaching this milestone of being Africa’s most-capped player was had possibly never even been a dream of hers.

Van Wyk began her football journey at the age of 15 with Springs Home Sweepers, before joining Scaw Metals FC. “I think it only crossed my mind when I understood that getting to 185 caps would be the record of the highest-capped player in Africa.

But before then, every other game was as important as the last one,” said Van Wyk, in an interview with Saturday Citizen.

“I am happy that I ended my career on a high. It’s been fulfilling, with the cherry on top being the last game for me.” Van Wyk earned her first South Africa women’s national team cap in 2006 against Nigeria in Wafcon but doesn’t remember much about the match.

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“I know that they [Nigeria] were tough opponents back then [Banyana lost the match 2-0]. I don’t even remember my performance for the team, but I guess it was good enough to get a call back into the squad,” she recalled.

Van Wyk had to endure many difficulties with the rest of the Banyana squad during those early years, as Banyana faced many tough times, with far less money in the women’s game then than there is now. But for the love of the game, they battled through all the difficulties, especially when playing away.

“People don’t get to see the inside of being an athlete. From when I first started playing for Banyana Banyana to now, the game has transformed into something bigger and better.

“Women are starting to make careers out of playing whereas back then, we used to play for passion and love for the game.

So much has changed, you get to travel and stay at nice hotels,” the defender said, sharing her experiences. “But back then, you would get to a hotel where there was no electricity and water and all these things you have to deal with in the trip – and still perform at your best.”

Those were the huge strides made by Van Wyk and the Banyana team as they introduced themselves to the football world, competing at the Olympic Games twice, London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, and the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

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It was after the first Olympics that the defender would earn her first professional contract, which only came at the age of 30, as she made the move to US side Houston Dash.

She went on to play for Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark and had her last spell abroad with Glasgow Celtic, where she featured in the Fifa Uefa Women’s Champions League in 2021, earning a contract with the Scottish side following Banyana’s first appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup in 2019 – a dream she thought she would not be able to achieve at her age.

“I didn’t think that I would play abroad. I was young when I dreamt about it. I didn’t have the opportunity and didn’t have an agent, like nowadays with the current players.

“It was after the 2016 Olympics that I was scouted. It was my first contract where I would earn a salary monthly,” she revealed.

“I keep telling young girls that you have to continue to dream and work towards your dream, even though there might seem to be shadows around your dream and it seems impossible. Nothing is impossible.”

If there is an achievement that tops them all for Van Wyk, it has to be winning Wafcon for the first time in Banyana’s history, in 2022. Banyana were runners-up three times (2008, 2012, and 2018), finishing third twice, in 2006 and 2010.

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“It was always my ultimate goal. I always said that before I retire I want to lift the Wafcon trophy. Success takes time … every year we got closer and fell short. But last year with the performance of the team, they were hungry for success,” she added.

Van Wyk retires as a football legend in the country and the world, with numerous individual accolades. In 2021, she was named in the Caf Team of the Decade and the All-Time Africa Women’s Dream Team by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

With Caf B and Uefa B pro licence coaching badges under her belt, the 36-year-old wants to learn as much as she can and she hopes to make a return to Banyana as head coach one day.