Banyana Banyana utility player Gabriela Salgado says she is honoured to have finally gotten an opportunity to represent the national team at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco.
Salgado was one of the impressive players who came off the bench alongside young striker Ronnel Donnelly and helped Banyana seal their Group C with an emphatic 4-0 win over Mali on Monday.
The result meant that Banyana topped their group and booked their spot in the quarterfinals of the competition. They will face Senegal on Saturday.
Back from injury
“It is a great honour for me to be here [Morocco] representing my country. Because, as you know, the last Wafcon I missed out on it due to injury,” Salgado told Safa media on Wednesday.
“So, it is an honour for me to be here. But it has not been an easy tournament for us so far. Because every team we have faced has come out guns blazing to beat us since we are the defending champions.
“But we managed to deal with the pressure and stuck together as a team to make it to the quarterfinals.”
Ahead of the game, the 27-year-old Salgado has since emphasised the importance of planning well for the game. Their goal as the team is to go all the way in the competition and defend their crown.
“We have managed to watch a few clips of them so far. And we will be doing a lot of video sessions to analyse them so that we can plan properly for them going into the game.
Crucial game
“So, we will have to go out there, stick to the plan, and do our best. This will be a crucial game for us because we owe it to ourselves. We work very hard and want to defend our title.
“Everyone is on the same page and has the same goal. So it will be very crucial for us to win and go further in the competition,” she added.
Banyana and the Lionesses of Teranga will cross swords at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda. The game is set to kick off at 9pm (SA time).
