Motlhalo says Banyana have grown stronger mentally

Back in 2019, it was disappointment all round for Banyana Banyana during their Fifa Women’s World Cup debut in France.

The 2023 tournament, however, found a different Banyana team, says midfielder Linda Motlhalo.

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Banyana managed to qualify for the global tournament for the very first time four years ago, a huge achievement for the history of women’s football in the country.

They lost all three matches in France, but showed this year that they had learned from that experience.

Banyana did superbly to make it into the knockout rounds of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, reaching the last 16 of the tournament before being knockout out by the Netherlands on Sunday.

“Compared to 2019, I think the different thing is our mentality. We went to the World Cup in 2019 and we didn’t really know what to expect. Coming into this World Cup we were prepared enough,” said Motlhalo.

“We came here and had a goal, and I think we achieved it as a team. We did really well … I would say that we are living the impossible.”

Against the Dutch, Motlhalo reckons things could have turned out differently had they buried some of their goalscoring chances.

The Glasgow City FC midfielder added that she’s still smiling because the team did well.

“The game against Netherlands was not easy, we had our chances, we just have to finish them off. The Netherlands got their chances and they buried them. I have a smile on my face because as a team, we did really well. We went into the round of 16 even when people didn’t believe in us.

“It’s 11 against 11 on the field, once we get chances we just have to bury them. I think that was the difference between us and the Netherlands.”

Banyana will always have fond memories of their first ever win at a World Cup finals, a scintillating 3-2 win over Italy that catapulted them into the last 16.

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They are also set to reap the financial rewards of that victory, with Fifa promising over R1 million to each player that made it to the knockout rounds.