Questions remain regarding the selection of Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Kaylin Swart ahead of award-winning shot-stopper Andile Dlamini.
Dlamini sat out the opening Fifa 2023 Women’s World Cup match that Banyana lost 2-1 against Sweden on Sunday morning.
Many still believe that Dlamini, the Mamelodi Sundowns women’s team keeper, would have dealt better with the Swedes’ high crosses that led to their defeat.
Even though Swart could have done better with her positioning, she is happy for the opportunity, after playing second fiddle to Dlamini for the longest of time.
Banyana will get another chance to record a victory when they face lowly Argentina on Friday.
“I’m sure the coaches will have a plan for the next game, but there are so many positives to take from this one and we look forward to the next one,” Swart told Centrecirlce.online.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a setback, I think this will fuel us more for the next one.
“We had great moments and if we can continue on those great moments, I think the next game will be a better showing for us.
“We are disappointed but we’ll dust ourselves off and go again.”
Swart explained further: “Yes, we obviously tried to work on all these things that happened in the game, and I think we really showed so much character.
“I think we can look back at this game and hope that we just take all the positives and go into the next game with a lot more confidence.
“And I think we surprised them quite a bit, I don’t think they saw that one coming. It’s just little things that we got to work on.
“There were moments when we held onto the ball quite a bit and we really showed character, we showed that we can play possession football.
“However, if you are defending for long periods, obviously the shifting becomes less and less, so we just got to keep working once we get back onto the training field.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
