Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw believes her side 1-0 defeat against the Netherlands was a learning curve for the South African side.

The South Africans conceded a foul close to their goals, and failed to defend the subsequent free-kick, giving the Netherlands their lead – and eventually their win, reports Safa.net.

The 53-year-old coach believed that once her side gained confidence during the match they stopped Oranje from going forward.

Pauw believe Banyana Banyana had the better of the chance but failed to capitalise with a goal.

‘At the start my players were nervous, thinking that The Netherlands is a top country, and didn’t know what to expect. I could see they had too much respect for them but from the moment they felt they could play against them, they got more confident,’ Pauw said.

‘At half-time we made a few changes – and this helped us in the second half as it stopped the Dutch team from going forward. They didn’t know how to get behind our defence, and we ended up with better chances. We could have scored at least two goals.’

The head coach believes that their defeat against Oranje was a learning curve for the South African side in preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in August.

‘Of course for us this is a good result, but it’s more about the performance which gave hope for improvement. We only conceded the goal because we did not stick to the game plan – like wrong players in the wall, which closed the view for the goalkeeper.’

‘And at this level such things cost you the game, in that sense it was a good learning curve and we cannot afford to make such mistakes. I keep saying, if you don’t make silly mistakes then you stand a good chance against any team,’ the Banyana Banyana added.

Pauw insisted that it will be a completely different match when the two side’s meet again on Tuesday for their second international friendly against the Netherlands.

‘We have to be honest because the Dutch team did not play all their top players, so Tuesday will not be any easier, infact it will be harder. But that is good for us to show we can also step up a gear as we go into the Olympics – move from strength to strength,’ she said.

‘We need to see how we perform when they have their full squad. Today we definitely showed what we are capable of.’

Banyana Bayana will meet the Netherlands in a repeat fixture at the Mandemakers Stadium on Tuesday.

Kick-off has been set for 19:00.

Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix