{"id":23478,"date":"2022-07-25T14:51:17","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T14:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon"},"modified":"2022-07-25T15:01:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:01:59","slug":"humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon","title":{"rendered":"‘Humbling and emotional experience’ as South Africa win Wafcon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>South Africa ended decades of heartbreak and four previous final failures when beating host nation Morocco 2-1 to win the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.<\/p>\n

Hilda Magaia proved Banyana Banyana\u2019s hero, scoring two quick goals midway through the second half to finally guide South Africa over the line.<\/p>\n

Although Rosella Ayane pulled a goal back for the Atlas Lionesses ten minutes from time, it was too little too late for a team making its first appearance in the final. South Africa had lost their four previous finals: in 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a humbling experience, and an emotional one, when you look at the journey that we have travelled as Banyana Banyana,\u201d captain Refiloe Jane told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo finally get to this point meant a lot for everyone. When the final whistle went out, I was crying. It was the most humbling and emotional experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever cried so much after a football match – that goes to show our journey, everything that we had to go through and things have finally come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Banyana Banyana coach Desire Ellis, this was a hugely-satisfying win after first trying \u2014 and failing \u2014 as a player to win the trophy when losing the final 22 years ago.<\/p>\n

After Ellis oversaw another final defeat, against Nigeria, four years ago from the touchline, her charges entered this tournament with a so-called \u2018mentality coach\u2019 in a bid to improve positivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels amazing,\u201d she told the BBC. \u201cI\u2019m an African champion now – and no one can take that away from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa needed real composure throughout the game to silence a raucous home crowd that had filled the 53,000-seater stadium at least two hours before kick-off, and which lit up the Rabat sky with dozens of red and white flares during the game.<\/p>\n

The first half was a tense affair, with no chances on target from either side, but the game burst into life when Magaia latched onto Jermaine Seoposenwe\u2019s cutback just after the hour to give South Africa their first ever lead in a Wafcon final.<\/p>\n

Eight minutes later, the South Korea-based forward made it two as she punished slack defence from Nesryne El Chad, who had otherwise impressed during the finals, to dink the ball past Moroccan goalkeeper Khadija Err-michi for a crucial two-goal lead.<\/p>\n

Morocco coach Reynald Pedros rang the changes in a desperate bid to get back into the game and was rewarded when Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s Ayane reduced arrears to give the hosts belated belief, so ending goalkeeper Andile Dlamini\u2019s run of over six hours without conceding.<\/p>\n

In the 98th minute, centre-back Yasmin Mrabet rose to meet a teasing cross from substitute Ghizlane Chhiri but as the ball sailed over, so did Morocco\u2019s hopes of a shock title.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the first North African hosts can reflect on not only staging a hugely-successful tournament but also achieving a maiden Women\u2019s World Cup qualification, also a first for the region, when reaching the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Morocco\u2019s federation has ambitious plans for the women\u2019s game, hoping to have 90,000 players and 1,000 licenced coaches by 2024, and this tournament has proved a watershed moment in terms of igniting support and changing perceptions towards the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that we couldn\u2019t get the job done but when I get a chance to reflect, I\u2019m going to realise what we\u2019ve actually achieved as a team \u2014 it\u2019s just incredible,\u201d Ayane told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our first final and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be the last. We put the pressure on for the last 15 minutes and if we had had an extra 5-10 minutes, I think we were getting another goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve not experienced an atmosphere like that back home in England \u2014 it\u2019s incredible,\u201d she said of the crowd. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of Moroccan people for coming out and supporting us, and I hope it continues for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa, meanwhile, have brought relief to a country ravaged by regular power cuts over the last six weeks and an unemployment rate approaching 35 per cent.<\/p>\n

Many of the squad sank to the floor in disbelief at the final whistle, as a repeatedly-elusive trophy finally found its way into delighted South African hands.<\/p>\n

The victory represents South Africa\u2019s second continental title, after the men\u2019s team won the 1996 Nations Cup when also beating North African opposition, Tunisia, thanks also to a brace, from Mark Williams.<\/p>\n

Banyana Banyana were the only side to win all six of their matches and will travel to next year\u2019s Women\u2019s World Cup as African champions, with Morocco, third-placed Zambia and nine-time champions Nigeria joining them in the 2023 tournament.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. South Africa ended decades of heartbreak and four previous final failures when beating host nation Morocco 2-1 to win the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. Hilda Magaia proved Banyana Banyana\u2019s hero, scoring two quick goals midway through the second half to finally guide South Africa over the line. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-23478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\n'Humbling and emotional experience' as South Africa win Wafcon - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Africa ended decades of heartbreak and four previous final failures when beating host nation Morocco 2-1 to win th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Humbling and emotional experience' as South Africa win Wafcon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa ended decades of heartbreak and four previous final failures when beating host nation Morocco 2-1 to win th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T14:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T15:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_8-62deb04c3898e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"‘Humbling and emotional experience’ as South Africa win Wafcon\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-25T14:51:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-25T15:01:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\"},\"wordCount\":819,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_8-62deb04c3898e.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/humbling-and-emotional-experience-as-south-africa-win-wafcon\",\"name\":\"'Humbling and emotional experience' as South Africa win Wafcon - 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