Janine van Wyk, a stalwart in the Banyana squad, will feature for the national team one last time when they face DRC in a 2024 CAF Women’s Olympic qualifiers encounter on Wednesday.
Last week, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis named her team to face DR Congo in two 2024 CAF Women’s Olympic qualifiers this month, with long-serving stalwart and former captain Janine van Wyk forming part of that squad.
Banyana will face DR Congo away from home on the first leg of CAF Womens Olypic qualifiers on 25 October 2023 and then host the Congolese in South Africa on Monday 30 October 2023.
Game Day !!
— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) October 25, 2023
Get ready to witness an epic battle on the field as DR Congo challenges Banyana Banyana!⚽️
🚨Live
📅 Wed, 25 October
⏲️16:30
📺SABC Sport
📱SABC+
🌐 https://t.co/LBeIFsaMRu #SABCSportFootball pic.twitter.com/p5GbmJoSFA
After the two matches, Van Wyk will sit on 185 international caps, making her the most capped footballer on the continent, male or female.
“This has been by far one of the hardest decisions of my life. This decision has always been one I have wanted to make on my terms,” van Wyk said in a statement on Monday. “And this is my time to say goodbye to football as a player while I watch the next generation shine.
Coach Ellis said van Wyk deserved the credit she was getting having been an ambassador for South African football.
“She has led the team at Olympic Games and the World Cup. She has given her all every time she has stepped onto the field’’.
In the last World Cup, Banyana finished in the last 16 and still maintained African Queens title after winning the Afcon.
🇿🇦 Banyana legend Janine van Wyk will retire after the 2024 Olympic qualifiers against 🇨🇩 DRC.
— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) October 16, 2023
If she features in both games she will bow out as the most-capped player in African football history with 185. #AfricanFootball pic.twitter.com/WhycOJ6iyI
Written by Nomonde Duma
