Banyana Banyana’s preparation for the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations in July got of to discouraging start as they were thumped 5-1 by the Netherlands in a friendly international at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday night.
Banyana were missing skipper and AC Milan midfielder Refiloe Jane who is recovering from injury and Atletico Madrid’s Thembi Kgatlana captained the team.
Netherlands' Jackie Groenen opened the floodgates as early as the 12th minute with a stunning strike that hit the crossbar before rattling the back of the net.
Kgatlana gave Banyana a glimmer of hope with a cool finish that found the bottom right corner, but the hosts buried all South African hopes as Lineth Beerensteyn and Vivianne Miedema scored to give the Leeuwinnen a 3-1 lead at the break.
The Netherlands extended their lead as Damaris Egurrola scored a brace in the final 15 minutes to extend the Dutch record to three victories against Banyana.