"It's something that we have been doing since last year and finally we’ve managed to strike the gold." - UJ FC Head Coach, Nthabeleng Modiko.
As the UJ Ladies Football team continues to carve their name in the books of women's football in South Africa, their journey serves as an inspiring narrative of resilience, teamwork, and unwavering passion. With a young squad brimming with talent and guided by the steady hand of former Banyana Banyana Captain, Nthabeleng Modiko, their recent battle was against fellow university contenders, the University of Pretoria (TUKS) in which the UJ team showcased their mettle, clinching a hard-fought victory with a 2-1 score line.
This victory marked UJ’s fourth consecutive win in the league, a testament to their firm commitment and tactical awareness on the field. Across these four victories, they've notched up an impressive tally of seven goals while conceding just one, another testament to their defensive solidity and attacking abilities.
Revisiting the encounters between UJ and TUKS in 2023 when the two sides met for the very first time outside of University competition, the two teams clashed twice, with the first leg ending in a 2-2 draw, and TUKS edging a tight contest in the second leg with a 1-0 victory. Reflecting on their journey, Coach Dunga, as she is affectionately known, applauded her team for their efforts throughout the seasons and shed light on the team's collective sentiment towards their recent string of successes, emphasising the invaluable momentum they've built.
“I think [that] we are very much excited about finally seeing the rewards of our hard work, we've been working hard and it's not just for this season, it's something that we have been doing since last year and finally we’ve managed to strike the gold and get lucky and get the results and rewards that we’ve been looking for. This season has been great and someone else might say it's piling pressure for us, but it's actually very much exciting, we are always looking forward to the next match, we’re always excited.” Said the Coach.
“We're looking forward to all the other upcoming matches, it's amazing to see the girls, not just from our team only but also watching all the other teams [on] how they prepare [and] how they come up against us. How they plan against us and how they are able to put forward their tactics so well and also a lot that we can be able to learn from the other teams so that's that's just that.”
UJ Ladies recently faced fellow university contenders; the University of Pretoria (TUKS) on Sunday, May 4 and the Orange Army continued to showcase their prowess on the field. UJ clinched victory with a hard-fought 2-1 win, marking their fourth consecutive triumph. Coach Dunga remained pragmatic yet optimistic as she offered insights into the showdown against TUKS.
“I think anytime that when we are playing against any University institution it's a humdinger, it's a beautiful game for us because it's a clash of the universities or the clash of the learning institutions. It's always regarded as the USSA (University Sports South Africa) coming back to each other and any match that we are playing against University of Pretoria we always just put forward our best foot. We always want to give or attribute the best respect to the opponent because we've seen how TUKS has been doing so great in recent times, and also not just in recent times, but even in the previous season you know they got promoted and they made sure that they've finished in the top six in their debut season at the highest League in the Hollywood bets so we give them the utmost respect.”
“We understand that they are well coached, well multi talented team and we've been working so hard in terms of actually strengthening our position as well as just ensuring that we can be able to to bury our chances and get our goals because that's the only part that we’ve been struggling with lately. However, I think we’ve just been doing everything the same way, working very hard, running just as hard, being extra energetic and just make sure that we cover our basis. For us TUKS is a team that we respect and it’s a team that we also want to do well against, given that in the previous season we couldn't get all maximum points so we want to be able to just get ourselves ready for that game.”
Beyond the tactical difficulties and the demand of the sport, Coach Dunga shared heartfelt moments of companionship and joy experienced within the UJ Ladies camp. From jubilant celebrations to unforgettable moments of unity, which underscore the profound bond that fuels their collective ambition. “I've got young players that enjoy dancing, they are into social media so much that I even call them Tik Tok stars, they are celebrities on Tik Tok because they’ve got such a huge following.” Revealed Coach Dunga.
“Every other moment when they are together you just see them practising their moves and recently I kind of like put my foot into it and and chose to join in one of their challenges. According to my standards I think I did good but you know because they are such competitive professionals they've been telling me that it’s a bad, bad case of me trying to to dance, so I find that very funny and I think it's something that brings us together. We sing together, we dance together and it's absolutely great just to relieve the stresses and the challenges that come with the competitive sport that we are in."
UJ will come against TUT Matsatsantsa in their next league battle on Saturday, May 11.
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