'African giants playing against each other' -  Banyana Banyana star Salgado ahead of massive game v Nigeria 

Banyana Banyana forward Gabriela Salgado has labeled Friday evening's showdown between Nigeria and South Africa at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium a 'massive game'.

The Super Falcons dominated women's football on the African continent for a very long time but Banyana Banyana have made big strides both internationally and on the continent in recent years. 

Banyana Banyana are the reigning African champions, winning the 2022 tournament in Morocco after finishing as runners-up on five previous occasions and attended back-to-back Olympic games in 2012 and 2016 while qualifying for the Fifa Women's World Cup in 2019 and 2023.

According to the Fifa rankings released last month, the Super Falcons are still the number one ranked African nation followed by their opponents this evening, South Africa.

Salgado reckons that there is very little separating the two countries based on performance. 

"It's massive. We all know how important this game is, both teams want to qualify for the Olympics. As you mentioned we missed out on the one before, so it's a massive game - African giants playing against each other," Salgado told SABC News.

"As we are African champs we need to go out there and show the country and everyone else that we deserve to qualify for the Olympics as we are African champions."

Salgado said Banyana Banyana will rely on the experience gained by winning the inaugural Aisha Buhari Cup held in Nigeria three years ago.

And she has insisted that Banyana Banyana have the mental toughness to handle any challenge they are confronted with including the weather

"I think it comes down to mind of a matter. We need to put those things aside, we all played in the heat before, we've played in the Aisha Buhari Cup.

"The weather was the same and we won that Cup so it just comes down to how badly we want it and I think this team is mentally prepared so there's nothing that can stop us."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: safa.net

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