Former Banyana Banyana captain Janine Van Wyk has hit back at critics who are saying that the current women’s national team needs young players in order to improve and for her the answer to the side’s problems is evolution.
The South African senior national women’s team has endured an unimpressive outing at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament ongoing in Morocco.
They were eliminated at the quarter-finals stage after losing 2-1 to hosts Morocco over the weekend. The group stage campaign wasn’t satisfactory as well, as they won just one game against Burkina Faso and drew with Ivory Coast, while losing their tournament opener to Tanzania.
The results have led to some parts of pundits and fans calling for more young players in the squad as they claim the experienced ones have nothing to offer anymore.
Meanwhile the tournament is also used as a 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier and by not reaching the semi-finals it means Banyana lost out on one of the four automatic qualifying spots.
The 2022 African champions are still in contention to qualify for the global showpiece to be hosted by Brazil, though they have to go through a long route which starts with a battle against the Super Falcons of Nigeria who were also dumped from the tournament on Thursday.
The most capped player on the African continent took to her social media platform Instagram to add her voice by saying performance is about much more than age.
“To my dearest South Africans,” wrote Van Wyk.
“Lately I’ve seen a lot of comments saying Banyana Banyana need ‘fresh blood’ and that the players are too old and calling for younger players to step in, thinking that would improve the team.
“I simply disagree.”
“To me, age is just a number. Experience, quality, mentality, tactical understanding and the ability to perform at the highest level matter far more.
“Look at [Lionel] Messi and [Christiano] Ronaldo. Players who continued to perform at the highest level well beyond the age people would normally consider ‘too old’. So why do we automatically assume that an experienced player can no longer contribute simply because of their age?
“Banyana Banyana won two WAFCON tournaments ago. That team had experience and some of those players are still currently there. These very players are playing abroad, competing at higher levels and bringing knowledge, higher standards and an element of competition that you simply cannot replace.
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bring in young players. We absolutely should but there needs to be a balance.
“You cannot expect a young player who has only played locally to suddenly step into a WAFCON and perform better than an experienced international who has spent years playing at the highest level.
“The answer isn’t simply ‘get rid of the old players and bring in the young ones’.
“The answer is EVOLUTION.
“Football evolves constantly and teams have to evolve with it. Bring fresh ideas. Evolve the tactical approach. Improve the technical work. Challenge the players. Improve the physical preparation. Work on the mentality. Create an environment where experienced players and younger players can learn from one another.
“Performance is about much more than age!!!
“Sometimes the solution isn’t changing the players. Sometimes it’s changing what happens around the players.
“Let’s stop making age the scapegoat and start looking at the bigger picture.”