Gallant Banyana go down in Rio

Banyana Banyana put up a gallant fight, but a goalkeeping mistake handed Sweden a 1-0 win in their Rio Olympics opener on Wednesday.

Banyana Banyana put up a gallant fight, but ultimately a goalkeeping mistake cost them to hand Sweden a 1-0 victory in the Olympic Games opener in Rio on Wednesday night.

Swedish defender Nilla Fischer was credited with the winner in the 75th minute after South African shot-stopper Roxanne Barker fumbled a cross from Emilia Appelqvist to help the ball over the line, with Fischer making sure with an extra touch.

It came as a body blow to a Banyana side that had done well to keep the marauding Swedish team at bay up to that point.

Banyana looked to attack on the counter for most of the first half, preferring to get numbers behind the ball to try and keep out the slick Swedish front-line. And the defensive ploy largely worked in the opening 45 minutes as a number of forays were intercepted by the deep-lying South African midfield.

Sweden did have an early opening as the prominent Sofia Jakobsson pounced on a loose ball inside the box and fired in a shot that beat Barker, but found the upright instead in the fifth minute.

The few times that Pauw’s outfit managed to get possession saw them display their ability to move the ball around, with precision passes the order of the day as the likes of Amanda Dlamini, Stephanie Malherbe and Noko Matlou swept the ball forward.

But the final pass usually went astray as the more physical Swedish defenders imposed themselves and produced some strong tackles to win the ball.

US-based striker Jermaine Seoposenwe was a bundle of energy upfront as she harried the Swedish defence and showed excellent speed. There was no shortage of skill either as the Cape Town-born No 12 often caught the Swedes flat-footed with her bag of tricks on the ball, but she lacked support as she operated virtually on her own upfront.

That showed in the statistics as well as South Africa were caught offside eight times during the game, with Seoposenwe the guilty party on six occasions, while they also seldom let rip with a shot on goal instead of just passing the ball around.

Banyana lost striker Shiwe Nogwanya to what looked like an ankle injury about seven minutes before halftime, but her replacement Linda Motlhalo added some much-needed impetus and support to Seoposenwe in the front-line.

Pauw’s team came out of their shell a bit more in the second half and were more of a threat to the Swedish defence. Their superior speed across the ground started to frustrate the Swedes and a few rough tackles started flying in, but referee Teodora Albon failed to dish out any yellow cards.

South Africa’s best chance came around the 70th-minute mark when the busy Nothando Vilakazi sent in a delightful chip into the box to find Seoposenwe in space, but as she was about to pull the trigger, a Swedish defender intercepted the ball. Banyana had a few corners immediately after that to keep up the pressure, but were unable to convert.

Then disaster struck five minutes later as Appelqvist delivered a chip into the box as Barker – who had fumbled an earlier cross in the same movement as well – couldn’t gather again and the ball crossed the goal-line. Barker hit the ball back into play, but Fischer buried it into the back of the net just to make sure and was awarded the goal.

It was an unfortunate outcome as Barker had been excellent up to that point, commanding the penalty area well and dealing with a number of crosses efficiently.

Banyana pressed forward for the equaliser, but it was not to be as Sweden held on for a hard-fought victory.

South Africa’s next Group E encounter is against China on Saturday midnight (Sunday morning) SA time.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed