2 June 2024 – Amogelang Motau has made a steady rise up the ranks and has played for South Africa from junior level, and she even captained the U17 Women’s National Team during the 2018 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
Motau has been part of the Banyana Banyana set-up on and off for a number of years and the University of the Western Cape captain has carved a place for herself in women’s football.
Following the Sasol-sponsored South African senior women’s national team 1-1 draw with Senegal in the first of the two-match international friendlies against the West Africans on Saturday, she spoke to www.safa.net about their performance against the hosts and what the future holds for the next generation of players.
“I believe we played well, but there is room for improvement going into the second match on Tuesday,” Motau said. “The first half of the match was rather physical and although we expected that from Senegal, we should have played more to our strengths. It was tough playing with a new group of players but with time we will get to understand each other a bit better.
“After regrouping in the second half and following coach Desiree instructions, we settled better and managed to get the goal we wanted. These friendlies will go a long way for us as we are on a journey to rebuild the team ahead of the WAFCON. We also intend to qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Coach Desiree has made it clear to us that we have to earn our places in the team, and I believe that we are all working hard to ensure that.
“Going into the second match, I believe we will do much better than on Saturday because we did see the weakness of the Senegalese. If we stick to our style of play we will be able to come back with a victory.”
Banyana Banyana will face Les Teranga Lionesses again on Tuesday, 4 June 2024 in their second international friendly. This match will be played at Stade Lat Dior in Thies, Senegal at 5pm local time.
