Eddie Mungai

Those familiar with the performance of African football teams in the World Cup, reaching the semi-finals is an elusive feat. I remember like it was yesterday how Ghana was one penalty away from reaching that stage but Luis Suarez’s hands got in the way. It just wasn’t to be that year, but we still move. I started following the women’s World Cup in 2007, yet I don’t really recall the performances of African teams until last year’s World Cup. South Africa took the lead and scored their first ever World Cup goal against Spain, but eventually lost the game in the last 20 minutes by way of conceding two penalties. South Africa never advanced from the Group Stage.

But what will it take for Banyana Banyana to make the Women’s World Cup semi-final? Not much actually. In fact, I suggest one little thing: minor tactical adjustments.

minor tactical adjustments

The gap in experience between South Africa and Spain surprisingly wasn’t that apparent initially, considering it was Banyana Banyana’s first ever World Cup appearance. They took the lead through a fantastic strike by Thembi Kgatlana. However, inexperience reared its ugly head, as South Africa conceded two penalties (one being a handball in the box and the other a high boot into the thigh of the Spanish player). It was a tough way to lose, but it was definitely preventable. It looked like their strategy after scoring the goal was to sit back and park the bus to secure points. But I think they dropped back too much and they panicked whenever Spain was in their box, resulting in those penalties. I give South Africa credit though. African teams (men especially) are often criticized for attacking too much and not focusing on defending when in the lead against a football powerhouse in global tournaments. But after that loss, I hope they realized that they don’t need to make drastic changes to the team (i.e. hiring a European coach, I’m not a big fan of that at all) but rather improve in-game tactical adjustments, such as knowing when to tactfully sit back and when to move up their defensive line.

A little bit of luck wouldn’t hurt either!