Banyana Banyana fight back to lose narrowly to Serbia

Cape Town — Banyana Banyana fought back from a 3-0 deficit to end 3-2 losers against hosts Serbia in an international friendly in Stara Pazova on Monday.

The 35th world-ranked Serbia ran up a 3-0 lead after only 22 minutes of play.

Full time!

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It ends in a defeat for Banyana Banyana.#LiveTheImpossible pic.twitter.com/JP2rZcDzuU

— Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) April 10, 2023

Defender Violeta Slovic scored the opening goal in the eighth minute, and Milica Mijatovic, who plays for Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, made it 2-0 in the 16th minute after Banyana failed to clear their lines after a goalmouth cross.

In the 22nd minute, the hosts made it 3-0 when Jovana Damnjanovic, a striker for Bayern Munich, scored.

This three-goal setback stung Banyana into action, and suddenly they managed to undo Serbia's vice-like grip on the match.

Some smart inter-play between Hildah Magaia and Jermaine Seoposenwe found an opening in the opposition defence, but the latter was fractionally wide of the target with her parting shot.

A minute later, on the half-hour mark, Banyana’s pressure paid off when they opened their scoring account through Magaia, who operated as a right-wing, alongside Seoposenwe in a central striker's berth.

Both sets of defences remained intact for the rest of the first half, and the team changed ends with Serbia leading 3-1.

In the second half, the African champions scored the only second-half goal through Seoposenwe in the 79th minute.

After their arrival in Serbia on Friday, Banyana were spectators at an international friendly between Serbia and Bosnia, who suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat. Watching this game gave Banyana a good idea of what to expect from the Serbians.

@Herman_Gibbs