Atletico Madrid and South Africa star, Thembi Kgatlana says Banyana Banyana not exporting players was a factor in the domination of African football by the Super Falcons but things are looking positive now as a number of South African players are based abroad.
The two rivals have been fixed in the same group and will face each other in Group C of the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations.
The Super Falcons have won the AWCON title nine times beating Banyana Banyana in the final of the competition.
The South Africans have been fighting back and have beaten the Falcons twice between 2018 and 2021.
The former Benfica and Eibar forward had this to say
“I think for a number of years Banyana hadn’t exported a lot of players overseas and that has given Nigeria and other teams the upper hand because they were able to export players,”Kgatlana told CAF Online.
“But then things are starting to look good and exciting for Banyana because we have a number of overseas based players, that means they are training every day, physically and mentally, at a high level.
“And we have the Hollywoodbets (Super League) that is on this season, that means the coaches will not have a problem getting the players to be fit than playing a tournament and some players are offseason.
“I think for a number of years Banyana have struggled because they were not able to export players but things are looking positive now.”
The tournament starts in 15 days time as Morocco will host the competition from July 2- July 23 .
Banyana Banyana will face the Super Falcons in their opening match of the competition on 4 July at Prince Moulay Hassan Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco.