Pauw ‘gutted’ by Banyana failure

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Vera Pauw, coach of South Africa during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Women Football match between South Africa and Sweden at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 03 August 2016 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
  • Post published:August 8, 2016

Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw has expressed her disappointment after her side were bundled out of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Banyana narrowly lost their opening game when they were beaten 1-0 by Sweden before the side suffered a second successive loss when they were outclassed 2-0 by China on matchday two.

‘I am very gutted and disappointed,’ Pauw told Safa.net.

‘If we had played our game it would have been a different story, both games were in our hands but we gave them away.’

The coach admitted she would likely reflect positively on the growth the team had demonstrated in time, but revealed that her immediate reaction was one of heartbreak.

‘We highlighted at half-time that we have to play the space behind the defence, I think we tried to force it, instead of playing our own game,’ Pauw continued.

‘This is a match we could have won in the first half had we scored.’

The coach lamented her side’s inability to make the most of their scoring chances while an unfortunate error against Sweden cost the side a valuable point.

‘It was a very unfortunate loss against Sweden and then not scoring one of the great four chances in the first half meant we could not proceed, it’s very disappointing.’

‘It will be very difficult because they are the most mature team I have seen, and also most professional, I haven’t seen any weak points in their play so it’s going to be a tough one but we will give it our all,’ she concluded.

Banyana have the daunting prospect of facing Brazil in their final game. The hosts have been imperious in the tournament thus far, having eased past China before thrashing Sweden.