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Pauw: We’re all on board!

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Vera Pauw: Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix
Vera Pauw: Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix

After guiding Banyana to Rio Olympics qualification, coach Vera Pauw tells Daniel Mothowagae there is more to celebrate as she heads home for her husband’s 70th birthday and their 21st wedding anniversary 

How do you compare qualifying Banyana for the Olympics with guiding the Netherlands women’s team to the European Championships bronze medal in 2009?

With the Euro championships, I knew players would get contracts abroad afterwards, but that was luxury. Here it is a necessity to make a difference in the lives of players to step into a new era. The emotions after the final whistle told what it meant for the lives of these players. That’s why our story is also big in the media in the Netherlands; people there heard something special about this team.

What is the difference between coaching in your home country and in South Africa?

In Holland, everything is structured and organised. Getting the players together for camp is easy when it comes to preparing and planning well. Here, the country is so big and travelling in Africa is so difficult. If you want to plan the way you want, you have to fight for every single thing. But together with the Safa management and the support of sponsors Sasol, we made it possible.

Are you planning to write a book about your latest achievement, as you did after the 2009 success story with Holland?

It was a story about the remarkable journey of the Dutch women’s national team. What happened with Banyana is very private and so special I am not sure if I want to share it in a book. But let me think about it again.

* Pauw co-authored De Voetbalvrouwen Komen Eraan (Soccer Women are Getting There) with soccer writer Welmoed de Lang after Euro 2009.

What made you come back to South Africa?

The feeling I have for this team and South Africa is immense. I loved them after just five days in camp. I left my husband [former Sunderland assistant coach Bert van Lingen] alone for a year and a half for the love of this team. We connect with each other and I feel they deserve to step into a better life through their sport.

Does being married to a football coach make the subject of your conversations obvious at home?

We don’t talk football when we are together. We only discuss football from a professional point of view, but after that, it’s a normal conversation.

Are you a hard taskmaster?

I had to kick the players’ butts several times because we had to be really tough on them sometimes. I always reminded them that I did it out of love and what I did was to lift their performance.

Did it take a while for Banyana to get used to your management style, which often sparked heated arguments?

That is the process I am not afraid of, but I needed time and I had to do it. It’s nice to be nice, but players have grown into realising why it was necessary. Players have much more confidence in themselves now. They were afraid to make mistakes because they were afraid to step out of their comfort zones.

Was this a culture shock for players who maybe were treated like girls before?

Not all the coaches are the same, but I had to take them out of their comfort zones. The culture here and in Holland is more or less the same, especially in the black community. In a feminine culture, women become passive under pressure. But being under pressure on the pitch means they have to be related to their task and goal. In Holland, it’s a collectivist culture where groups are very important. You want to stand out as an individual and be more popular than the other and here it’s actually the opposite.

And what about the stories that once did the rounds that you prevented Banyana from singing in the dressing room?

I was sad to read that in the papers. I couldn’t do anything about it because I was discussing the singing for the good of the game with the players.

I used music and dancing to get them out of their comfort zones because it’s a motoric skill that makes your brain ready. I am actually a dancer. When I was younger I didn’t leave the dance floor. We were playing the fight song as loud as possible in the bus on our way to the stadium [for the Equatorial Guinea game last Sunday].

Does your loaded CV put any pressure on you each time you accept a coaching job and do people later use this against you if you fail in your mandate?

The pressure that is often brought on me is unfair judgement. I do accept that, in sport, if you don’t perform, you’re out – and that’s part of life.

Can you speak any of the local languages?

Sawubona! I have not picked up anything much, which is a shame, and I would love to. But it’s because everyone speaks English with me.

And the food?

I don’t like pap, but I know you guys like it. But you can wake me up any time for a braai.

What do you do in your spare time?

I am here for football. There hasn’t been much more to do other than football. But I have made a few friends and we go out for dinner sometimes to clear my head of football.

I have more of a social life in Holland, where music is important in our lives. I have a passion for biking and speed skating.

How are you going to spend your time away from Banyana?

We have a house in Dourdan, France, that we call paradise. Our whole family is coming over for the holidays. Bert will turn 70 in December and we have been married since 1994. So we are going to celebrate that as well.

Do you see yourself coaching alongside your husband one day?

I have no idea if it will work, but we think the same.

We worked together a lot before as technical directors for the Russian men’s and women’s national teams. He was also my baas [boss] in the Dutch FA.

It was so natural – but coaching together? I never gave it a thought

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