South Africa goalkeeper Kaylin Swart believes that playing the first leg of their 2024 Olympics qualifiers against the Super Falcons in Nigeria would be an advantage for them, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nigeria and South Africa will square off in the final round of the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers next week. A few years ago, it would likely have been a stroll in the park for Nigeria, but South African football has improved in recent years, and they pose a big threat to the Super Falcons.
In fact, despite Nigeriaโs quality on paper, both sides seem evenly matched going into the tie.
Meanwhile, South Africa have already opened camp in their country ahead of the game, with coach Desiree Ellis calling up 29 players. They play the first leg at the Moshood Abiola Stadium on April 1, then travel to South Africa for the second leg eight days later.
Ahead of the fixture, Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Swart has been talking tough, as she believes that her side can nick something against the Super Falcons. She feels that playing the second leg in South Africa would be an added advantage for them.
โItโs always best to play away first, so I think we have an advantage against Nigeria as well. The last couple of qualifiers against DR Congo and Tanzania it wasnโt easy, but we managed to get a couple of goals away, and we came back home with confidence. Playing away first alleviates pressure,โ Swart said per Sowetan Live.
โThe ooze and chants from the away fans are not the best, but I think we can use that as a fuel to conquer. Yes, itโs going to be tough. Nigeria have a big following; they pack stadiums when they play at home, but we are up for the challenge and the hostility weโre going to face.โ
Meanwhile, she is unfazed at the prospect of facing the Super Falcons in Nigeria inside the 60,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio stadium.
โWeโre pretty experienced enough to deal with that [hostile atmosphere]โฆ weโve played in Morocco against Morocco in front of almost 80,000 fans [in fact, the venueโs capacity is 53,000], who were against us, but we still prevailed,โ Swart noted.
Coach Randy Waldrum has to get a victory for the Super Falcons, as they have not played at the Olympic games since 2006. A win in Nigeria would ease some pressure going into the second leg in South Africa.