Seoposenwe opens up about international retirement, calls for SAFA to treat Banyana better
The 31-year-old called time on her national team career at the conclusion of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, after they finished in fourth place after a 4-3 loss to Ghana on penalties, after the third-place playoff had finished 1-1.
Former Banyana Banyana player, Jermaine Seoposenwe and Robert Marawa. Photo: 947
JOHANNESBURG - Jermaine Seoposenwe has opened up about her decision to retire from Banyana Banyana, admitting that it is due to her feeling like she was falling out of love with football.
The 31-year-old called time on her national team career at the conclusion of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), after they finished in fourth place after a 4-3 loss to Ghana on penalties, after the third-place playoff had finished 1-1.
She made over 100 appearances for South Africa and won the WAFCON title in 2022.
Having made her debut in 2010, Seoposenwe revealed on Marawa Sports Worldwide on 947 that the decision had not come easily.
“It’s been a journey for me in the national team,” she reflected. “Football has given me everything, and it’s tough for me to walk away from the national team. After 15 years and the ability that I still have as one of the best players in the country, it’s tough. It’s tough to walk away from my teammates, the people of South Africa and how they supported me. It’s tough to make that decision, but I feel like it’s something I had to do.”
Seoposenwe admitted that she had been struggling to lift her game and to enjoy running out for the national team over the last couple of years.
“At the end of the day, I haven’t been happy in the national team for a very long time, but obviously continuing to push through those emotions and those feelings,” she added.
“You are a senior player, so you carry a lot of pressure as well within the football side of it. The emotional side of it… I just want to love football; I don’t want to be unhappy. I don’t want to continue to struggle for things, that as a national team player, you deserve. I just think for my happiness, for my wellbeing… I don’t want to lose my love for football as well.
“I think I also was beginning to lose that love for football, kind of growing resentment for football. That is not something I have experienced anywhere, maybe a little bit in Spain, but it’s just a feeling I don’t want to feel. And I thought it was time for me to go.”
Seoposenwe acknowledged that she did not feel the same joy while playing for Banyana that she does with her Mexican club C.F. Monterrey.
Having joined in May 2024, she won the Clausura champions in the same season while they clinched the Apertura in a penalty shootout against rivals Tigres UANL.
“That’s how I feel in Mexico, with Rayados. I’m happy, vibrant, just a completely different person and then coming back to the national team… it’s crazy to me sometimes, just to sit down with myself and know the difference in how I feel with my team in Mexico and national team.”
She further added about her struggles with the national team, “People who really know me can see that I am a shell of myself in the national team and I didn’t want to be that person anymore.
“I know what I can bring to the national team, I know what I mean to my teammates and the people of South Africa. I just felt like out of respect for everyone involved, within the national team and people of South Africa, and just the performances that I have given since I’ve gotten back, it’s just not up to my standard.
“And so, if I am going to be this person, what is the use? The use of basically forcing myself to come and play football, which is the thing that I love so much out of everything, besides my family and friends.
“I’ve gotten so many messages from people who say I must reconsider and come back. But at the end of the day, I have to go there, I have to force myself to be there and struggle within the national team, which is unfair to the people who work hard, unfair to my teammates and obviously for me. I want to be better and try. I have been trying for a very long time, over two years. I have known I just don’t feel the same way I feel outside of the national team when it comes to football, and I just thought it's time.”
Seoposenwe’s announcement regarding her retirement came just days after another Banyana superstar, Thembi Kgatlana, asked not to be named in the squad to defend their African title, citing personal reasons.
As to what is at the centre of her struggles with the national team, the Cape Town-born forward does not mince her words.
“It’s definitely the [South African Football] Association and treatment of us in many instances. I think I tried to wrap my head around it but as a player, it’s difficult, especially being overseas and in an environment where our directors try to make everything as equal as possible. Every time we go to a major tournament, we must fight about money and basically everything. Why do we have to fight? Why can’t you plan out for the year? FIFA gives you a calendar of what we are going to do, why can’t you budget for those FIFA dates? Why is it so impossible for you to do well by us?”
Like many national teams before, money disputes continue to sour the relationship between SAFA and players, with Seoposenwe blaming a lack of transparency for the tensions.
“The country is expecting us to do these amazing things, but they don’t know what is going on behind the scenes, how we are suffering, how we are treated and how we're constantly fighting,” she said.
“I can tell you one thing that happened at WAFCON, before the Ghana game, the players were boycotting because we hadn’t come to an agreement with the association. We left for the game late. We were supposed to leave at 05:30 pm, but we only left at 6 pm, we got there at 7 pm, and the game started at 8 pm. Why is that an issue? Why are we doing these things? And obviously the country expects us to go onto the field, but they don’t know that we were literally sitting in the hotel, waiting on the Association to come back to us.”
She added that while talks about bonuses related to WAFCON were discussed prior to the tournament, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announcing there would be an increase in prize money to $1,000,000, they expected SAFA to come back and renegotiate.
That, however, did not materialise, with the association holding the team to the verbal agreement they had previously discussed.
She further added that in terms of match bonuses, Banyana receive R15,000 for winning a match against a side who are not ranked in Top 20, while also being provided a daily allowance.