30 October 2018 – The South African U17 Women’s national team has received some morale-boosting support from all over ahead of the FIFA World Cup set to take place in Uruguay from 13 November until 1 December 2018.
On Saturday (27 October, just before the u17 squad departed, the team was visited by Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk and technical staff led by coach Desiree Ellis to bid them farewell as well as wish them all the best at the tournament.
However, there was a big surprise for the girls as the Uruguayan ambassador in South Africa Cesar Rodriguez gave them a message of inspiration.
“I hope you will have a good time, enjoy the tournament and don’t kick your opponents too hard but on a more serious note, I wish you will win the cup. I hope that I will be here when you come back to celebrate the victory with you. You are still young so take advantage of the opportunity and make the best of it, ” said Rodriguez.
They also received support from the 2010 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup squad members that represented South Africa, something which coach Simphiwe Dludlu says will go a long way to lift the team spirit and sense of belief.
“Some of the players like Jabulile Mazibuko and Jermaine Seoposenwe have been giving all the support saying they know we can do it because they have seen the team.
Kaylin Swart was the goalkeeper in 2010 as well as Rachel Sebati, these are players in the current Banyana team and when you hear them speak highly of this team it probably means they see something that’s different from what they had back then. Its really encouraging to see that there are people who believe we will go far,” said coach Dludlu.