The University of Johannesburg (UJ) won the 2022 FNB Varsity women’s edition 5-3 on penalties following a tough 0-0 final match against defending champions the University of the Western Cape (UWC) on Sunday, 16 October 2022.
This is UJ’s second Varsity Football title. They won their maiden title in 2013 with players such as Amanda Dlamini and the current Coach, Nthabeleng “Dunga” Modiko, who became household names for women’s football in South Africa.
The match was the final clash of two tough teams in this year’s FNB Varsity Football. Going into the final, UJ won all their four games, defeating the Universities of Pretoria, North West, Limpopo and Tshwane University of Technology.
Speaking on their win, Coach Nthabeleng “Dunga” Modiko said, “I’m excited that we won. I’m over the moon – we did it for the men’s team, the supporters, the families who came here to watch their daughters, and the friends, everyone. We stuck to our game plan, there was no need to panic. It took long for us to crack them, but I’m glad that we are the champions.”
Coach added, “from here, we shift focus to the Hollywoodbets Super League. We have games that we still need to play and make sure that we finish in a good position too.”
The two teams held each other to a 0-0 for 90 minutes. UWC dominated the first half of the match, with UJ defense keeping them at bay. However, UJ did not let the visitors take control of matters on the pitch.
The Orange Army scored all five penalties, with goalkeeper being the match winner by saving the first UWC penalty. It was the first match of the tournament to be decided on penalties.
Asked how she felt about winning her first Varsity Football tournament with the UJ team, vice-captain Ntsandeni Angel Munasi said, “I’m very happy that we won this tournament. This means a lot to me. We did not want UWC to win again – so we did exactly that.”
In this tournament, Coach Modiko’s girls scored 17 goals in four matches. The UJ ladies opened the tournament on a high putting four goals past the UP Tuks goal keeper. They went on to win 3-0 against NWU and 5-0 against the UL as well as 5-1 against TUT in the semi-final.
“2022 is a year for women teams at UJ,” said one fan after the UJ women’s rugby 7s team won the Varsity 7s tournament unbeaten in Pretoria on Saturday, 8 October 2022. Following their rugby championship, the UJ netball team also reached the semi-final of this year’s Varsity Netball tournament, a first in the history of the team.
“I have no words to describe how I feel. I thank God for the opportunity to showcase my talent, a big thank you to the fans and everyone who came here to support us throughout the tournament,” said Ayesha Moosa, who has been one of the key players in the UJ team in the tournament.
The UJ twin players, Sphumelele and Thubelihle Shamase, who also have played a pivotal role in the team said, “We’re very happy to win this tournament together and with UJ. We have always wanted to add the Varsity Football title to our portfolios and this was a chance to do so, we did it.”
#UJAllTheWay #OrangeArmy
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