‘Distraught’ Van Wyk walks out of Banyana ahead of DRC tie

After being left-out on the bench in Banyana Banyana’s 1-1 draw with Democratic Republic of Congo in a Caf Olympics qualifier first leg in Kinshasa last week Wednesday, defender Janine van Wyk has decided to leave the team’s camp.

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Van Wyk, who announced her retirement from international football last week, was called up into the national women’s team with the view of the player being handed two more caps in order to become the longest serving player both male and female with 185 caps.

The defender is currently on 183 national team caps, while the record of the longest serving national team player, which is held by Egypt legend Ahmed Hassan, who has 184 intrnational caps.

Van Wyk sat on the bench in the game against the DRC, which ended in a 1-1 draw, with coach Desiree Ellis starting the match with a completely new defence pairing – which consisted of Lonathemba Mhlongo, Karabo Dhlamini, Fikile Magama and attacking m-midfielder Wendy Shongwe being deployed at left-back.

The former Banyana captain expressed her disappointment of not being played in the first leg against DRC on social media X, previously known as Twitter, stating that she can’t explain how she is feeling after being denied an opportunity to set the continental record.

“I can’t describe the pain I’m feeling deep inside of me. One last moment I’m meant to embrace has turned to be a moment of distraught,“ wrote Van Wyk.

Ellis confirmed Van Wyk’s exit from, with the Banyana mentor admitting that the defender was not happy with what transpired in the away match.

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But, revealed that she still has an opportunity to achieve her goal in the upcoming matches.

 “Janine is not here, she is mentally not ok with what happened in DR Congo because we didn’t give the cap. There is still an opportunity for her getting that cap. We have games coming up with the final qualifier for the Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) next month,” said Ellis.

Banyana will host the DRC in the return leg set to be played at Orlando Stadium on Monday, and the winner of the two-legged tie will progress to the next phase of the qualifiers.