Banyana Banyana defender Noko Matlou says it has been a long and hard journey to reach 150 appearances for South Africa, but worth it.
Matlou made her debut in 2007 and celebrated a century and a half of matches when Banyana Banyana faced Finland in the final fixture of the 2019 Cyprus Womens’s Cup where she also wore the captain’s armband.
Among her greatest moments in her career, she names qualifying for both the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup top of the list.
She has scored 64 goals, and she joins captain Janine van Wyk as the only players – male and female – on 150 appearances and more.
Van Wyk is on 164 caps.
Matlou was crowned the 2008 CAF Woman Player of the Year – the first South African to do so, before Thembi Kgatlana achieved the same earlier this year.
SAFA Media spoke to Matlou before the squad returned home from Cyprus:
