Mkhonza Confident But Eyes on the End Goal

Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza remains confident of finishing in a good position in the Cyprus Cup despite watching his side lose 2-0 to South Korea in the opening match of the tournament on Wednesday (Click here for the latest Cyprus Cup match results, logs and fixtures).

South Korea scored a goal in each half to go second in Group C behind Republic of Ireland who hammered Northern Ireland 5-1 in the other group match played last night.

Watch the above video for highlights from the opening Cyprus Cup fixture for South Africa and South Korea. Find more videos like this on Womens Soccer United
Mkhonza, the current South Africa Coach of the Year who led Banyana Banyana to the 2012 London Olympics and to a runners-up finish at the 2012 African Woman’s Championship (AWC), may have been disappointed at the end of the match but quickly picked himself up. He also lifted the spirits of the Sasol-sponsored girls, encouraging them to turn things around in the tournament.

“We started brightly in the opening 10 minutes, but soon after we gave away a soft goal from a defensive mistake and miscommunication between our goalkeeper and right fullback. What is pleasing is that the girls fought back bravely and we regrouped, but it was too late,” said Mkhonza.

Banyana Banyana accepted the invitation to participate in the tournament (South Africa is in its fourth year of the tournament – they finished 10th out of 12 teams in 2012), to prepare for the upcoming AWC qualifiersm and also create a large pool of players by trying out emerging talent such as Robyn Moodaly, Gloria Thato and Shiwe Nogwanya.

“Our objectives to be in Cyprus can’t change overnight because of our opening day defeat. We will continue to look into giving other players a chance – especially in midfield and upfront, to also gain experience, and for us to see how they can handle themselves at this international level looking ahead to the qualifiers starting later this year,” he said.

Banyana Banyana face Republic of Ireland on Friday, 8 March (14h30 SA time).

“We learned the hard way from our defeat. For our next match we will look at pushing up from midfield and supplying our forwards quickly, to also force the opposition into making mistakes for us to profit from. I watched Northern Ireland last night, and I believe they are beatable if we knock the ball around and into space on the wings, where they are not very strong,” concluded Mkhonza.