Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk has urged her side to step up their game when they take on Sweden at Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.

The South African Women’s national team will play Sweden in their second international friendly, hoping for a win following their 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in their first game of the year.

With Banyana looking to continue their preparations for the upcoming Fifa Women’s World Cup in France, Van Wyk says she has been impressed with the team’s growth over the past year.

‘The team has grown a lot over the past year,’ Van Wyk said.

‘We’ve had some quality matches over the past year that have helped us develop our game, and the confidence is there after qualifying for the [Fifa Women’s] World Cup, but obviously we need to step it up. The coaches expect us to improve and our performance level has really risen from our point of view as players, but we know that the opponents will not be a walk in the park. They’re the type of opponents we’ll play in the World Cup, and we need to be prepared when we reach that final stage of preparation.’

The Banyana skipper has urged her side to convert more of their chances in the final third, while stressing the importance of not conceding early in the first half.

‘We need to stop conceding in the first half, especially in the opening minutes of the game, and I think we’ll be a very tough team to break down if we don’t concede early,’ she added. ‘If we do that, we’ll develop in our game as well.

‘Against Netherlands we put up a good performance compared to last year when we played here, but we know there needs to be more done for us to compete better and win games. People might say the performance was good, but we need the result to show for it and that’s what we’re striving towards.’

The Swedish outfit claimed a 3-0 victory over South Africa the last time the two sides met in Cape Town, but Van Wyk is hoping that Banyana can redeem themselves against a dangerous Sweden side.

‘Sweden is not an easy opponent,’ Van Wyk said. ‘They’re very physical, very direct and very clinical in front of goal and we need to stop that. Hopefully we’ll get not just a good performance, but a good result as well.’

The match at Cape Town Stadium kicks off at 7pm.