Banyana Banayan defender Janine Van Wyka is grateful to the coaching after matching a long-standing record. Image Source: (@JanineVanWyka/Instagram)
Record-breaking Janine van Wyk calls time on illustrious career
Moments after becoming Africa’s most capped international player, Janine van Wyk officially called time on her career as a player on Monday.
Banyana Banayan defender Janine Van Wyka is grateful to the coaching after matching a long-standing record. Image Source: (@JanineVanWyka/Instagram)
Janine van Wyk became the most capped African footballer on Monday after making a 185th appearance for South Africa in a 2-0 African Women’s Cup of Nations qualifying win over Burkina Faso.
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Signing off in a record-breaking note
The 36-year-old overtook Egyptian Ahmed Hassan, who held the record since retiring in 2012 having represented his country 184 times.
Janine van Wyk started the game as the captain for one last time and she was substituted after only seven minutes in Banyana’s 2-0 win over Burkina Faso at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville. She later confirmed her retirement from the international stage.
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Janine van Wyk reflects on glittering career
The central defender, who made her international debut for South Africa back in 2005 against the Super Falcons of Nigeria, said her illustrious career boiled down to hard work and dedication.
“Nothing worth having comes easy,” Janine van Wyk said.
“If you really want to be professional, you’ve got to work for it. You have a lot of sacrifices that you have to make and you’ve got to be self-disciplined. It’s tough to wake up every single day and grind to achieve your dream.
“It’s not an easy journey, you’ve going to have to face some throughout and some challenges, but it’s these kinds of moments that makes everything worthwhile, so I’m very proud of that.”
