A former captain of Banyana Banyana, South Africa’s female national team, Janine van Wyk has blamed their 2-1 loss to Nigeria on a nasty injury that was copped by gritty midfielder, Gabriela Salgado.
Sports247 reports that the JVW FC of South Africa battler bowed out of Tuesday’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final tie midway through the second half, and Van Wyk believes the result would have been different had that setback not occurred.
The verdict by Van Wyk, who is incidentally the founder, joint-owner and current head coach of Salgado’s club, came at a point when some of Nigeria’s players paid a courtesy visit to the injured player in the hospital.
The visit by the Nigerian lasses would serve as a huge morale booster for Salgado, who reportedly had a successful surgery on her injury at a hospital in Morocco, but doctors said she would need six months to recover fully.
While attention shifted to the hospital visit by a handful of Nigeria’s players, Van Wyk (whose initials form her club’s name) aired her views on what she aptly referred to as an unfortunate incident, which affected Salgado directly and left multiple effects on the stability of her team during Tuesday’s game.
The 38-year-old ex-international noted, “It was a very unfortunate incident that happened with Gabi Salgado. We could see immediately when it happened how the girls got scattered.
“They were filled with emotions and tears, which unsettled the momentum of the team. I think they were on the front foot at that moment.”
Van Wyk, who still holds a continental record of 185 international caps by any African women’s national team player ever, opined further that Banyana Banyana looked set to silence the Falcons until the nasty knock copped by the 27-year-old Salgado, who was born in Gauteng, South Africa, to a Portuguese father and Lebanese mother.
JVW added, “They were creating good chances until that setback happened. It automatically destabilised everything and, unfortunately, the result went against South Africa.
“That meant they are not through to the final. It’s heartbreaking all around and a disappointing result with plenty of incidents. Let’s just wish a speedy recovery for Gabi,” Van Wyk submitted.
Salgado will now take solace in the Falcons’ players’ visit, as the Nigerians made time out of their tight training schedule to check on one of their most fearsome opponents so far at WAFCON 2024.
They will also hope that their show of rare sportsmanship will guide their efforts in Saturday’s final, when they battle the host nation, Morocco, in a match that would make or break their aspirations for a 10th African title.
The match will climax a successful or ultimately unachievable outing that had earlier been branded ‘Mission X’ by egg heads of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
