BANYANA Banyana star Nothando “Vivo” Vilakazi made her much anticipated Eurpoean Debut this past weekend.
The 30-year-old from Middelburg, in Mpumalanga, completed her overseas move just last week.
She joined Lithuanian side FK Gintra with Banyana teammate Jermaine Seoposenwe on a one-year deal.
She played 75 minutes when her new club comfortably beat Rigas FC of Latvia 5-1 in the first Baltic League match of the season on Saturday.
Seoposenwe on the other hand, will have to shake off her minor injury before she can make her debut for her new club.
“It was a very lovely debut, I really enjoyed myself – just a pity that I could not share the field with Jermaine because of her injury.
But I know she will soon be back on the field and do what she does best,” Vilakazi told SAFA.net.
“The 75 minutes I played was not difficult at all – I was just in a happy space and it made things very easy for me to perform. I am also glad my new teammates welcomed me warmly as they even allowed me to take all the corners – left and right – as well as free kicks, and for me that was just awesome.”
Vilakazi will be hoping to gain as much experience in Europe as possible as she prepares for a strong showing with Banyana at the 2019 Fifa World Cup in France.
“The move came at the right time before we go our first Women’s World Cup, and this will help grow our game a lot. Hopefully, but the time we get to the tournament we will be much better players because of the experience we will have gained here.
"And also, we will be able to share a lot with our teammates in the national team as to how to approach certain situations.”
