Banyana Banyana youngsters feeling no pressure - Nicole Michael

The two nations clash tonight and again on Tuesday,  and the TS Galaxy Queens forward is one of several youngsters picked for this assignment alongside, the likes of Ayanda Hadebe, Thubelihle Shamase, Ayesha Moosa and Shannon Macomo.

Michael says they are ready.

"Not much pressure, but I guess we have to push and be confident in ourselves and the each other. It's important for youngsters to show up because there are many who have quality, and we obviously want to have a young team," said Michael.

"Obviously we need experience, but we also need young players, like myself and the others, which is a good thing to have in the [national team] squad."

Michael has been part of the Banyana squad during the qualifiers of the Olympic Games as well as the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, but was left out of the team to face Nigeria in April. 

It was this game that denied South Africa a spot in Paris after losing 1-0 over two legs, and Michael admits it was a hard pill to swallow being dropped.

"Having to miss out against Nigeria was very hard, I wasn't comfortable, I had to go back and obviously work hard. It wasn't easy, but I had to trust my other teammates to do the job," she noted.

"A lot of youngsters are now in this team, we're confident and we're going out there to work towards this goal, which is to play against Senegal, try to do our best and show why we belong here."

READ: Motau: Senegal clash will help Banyana rebuilding phase