Nomvula Kgoale: Banyana’s Olympic failure due to lack of motivation

The African Champions missed out after going down 1-0 on aggregate to bitter rivals Nigeria in a two-legged affair last month.

Kgoale, who is yet to feature at the Olympics, says the tie was lost in the first leg in Abuja, where the Super Falcons scored from the penalty spot, as Banyana failed to book their ticket to the global showpiece for a second successive time after Tokyo 2020.

"It was so disappointing, I'm going to be honest. But one thing again, I don't know if people were able to watch the away game against Nigeria – maybe they could catch the highlights, but I felt, as a team and a nation, it was more like a lack of motivation here or there," said Kgoale.

"Sometimes as players, you need a little bit of a push behind in order to get things done, and unfortunately we only woke up after the 1-0 defeat away.

"So that's why you saw, when we came back home, it was 0-0 because everybody was more awake, more determined, realising that, 'Oh, ladies, this is the Olympics!'

"But I would say it's really disappointing, but it's not something that I can look down upon myself or my teammates going forward, because I know how excellent the girls are, and how determined they are – I know how, when we want something, we go out and get it.

"It was jut a slip-up, and I truly believe that, going forward, it was more like a wake-up call – for me, in my opinion."

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