Banyana Banyana won’t take their eyes off the ball when they face the Netherlands at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (3 pm).
With the South African national soccer team en route to the World Cup for the first time in their history, this June, everything they do is geared towards France.
And while they are playing the seventh-ranked Dutch this weekend, the best woman footballer in Africa is not a bang.
Striker Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana says: “I think these games are going to be important for us as a team because we are like newlyweds - we just qualified for the World Cup and they have been there before.
“It will be good to measure ourselves against them, see where we are. We still have a long way to prepare and it’s good that we get the best team to prepare with.”
AFRICA'S BEST: Ace Kgatlana. Photo: MUZI NTOMBELA/BACKPAGEPIX
Meanwhile, captain Janine van Wyk urged her players to be their best and keep improving with another clash against Sweden coming up on Tuesday (7 pm).
The defender says: “We have done well as a team, with numerous achievements that I am very proud of, but qualifying for the World Cup is the crowning achievement of our careers. Rather than viewing this as the culmination of a decade of planning, we must see it as the beginning of a new era for women’s football.
“It is proof that women footballers in South Africa have the potential to become the best."