By Katleho Chitja
BLOEMFONTEIN – Ruthless Banyana Banyana booked their ticket to the third round of the 2028 Olympic qualifiers with a swaggering 3-0 demolition of Madagascar at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday – sealing a brutal 7-0 aggregate rout.
The WAFCON queens had already done the damage in the first leg last Friday, when Ronnel Donnelly announced herself with a stunning hat-trick and Hildah Magaia added a fourth to make it 4-0.
Madagascar came to Bloemfontein on Tuesday hoping to park the bus – and for 45 minutes it worked.
Banyana huffed and puffed, but the scoreboard stayed stuck at 0-0 at the break.
Then Desiree Ellis’ side exploded.
Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado broke the deadlock with a clinical finish, before super-sub Donnelly came off the bench to fire a deadly brace, taking her personal tally to five goals in two matches and burying Madagascar for good.It was dominance. It was statement.
“It is beautiful to see Bloemfontein fans coming out in numbers compared to Friday. We knew the fans in Bloemfontein would come out because they love football. We started slowly, but overall, I am very happy with the performance. We got the results, and we will take that,” Ellis said, praising the bumper Toyota Stadium crowd.
The win sets up a mouth-watering third-round clash against Angola early next year, as Banyana’s road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics heats up.
And there is no time to celebrate. Banyana must now carry this ruthless form into next month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup play-offs, with their eyes firmly on global domination.
*BANYANA 3-0 MADAGASCAR (7-0 agg)*
*Scorers:* Moodaly-Salgado, Donnelly (2)
