Safja queen waiting for magical 150th cap

Nyandeni was named the third South African Football Journalists Association (Safja) Women's Footballer of the Season on Tuesday in Johannesburg. 

The 36-year-old, who has 149 Banyana caps, was left out of the 2019 Fifa Women's World Cup. And says even 30 seconds on the pitch for her country would be enough.

"I need to work hard, so my work can speak for itself. I don't know if I will get a call-up to the national team but I haven't retired from international football. I'm a leading goal scorer for the past two seasons, I just need to push myself. I haven't closed any doors. I just need 30 seconds in a Banyana game then I would have gotten to 150 caps," she said.

Nyandeni, who has finished as the top goal scorer in the Hollywoodbets Super League for the past two seasons, beat out strong competition from Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies' Boitumelo Rabale, University of Western Cape duo Amogelang Motau and Lonathemba Mhlongo, and TS Galaxy teammate Busisiwe Ndimeni to the award. 

"This award means a lot to me. I didn't give up, even after not winning last season. I would also like to encourage the other nominees in my category to not give up. These awards show that women's football in South Africa is growing," she added.

After losing to Bambanani Mbane last year, Nyandeni becomes the first non-Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies player to win this award. 

She thanked Safja for their consistency in recognizing her.

"South African media has been following my journey from when I started playing for the national team when I was 14 until today. I always avail myself for interviews because our journalists work hard to push women's football. It's very nice that Safja has such awards, it really shows that journalists are committed to growing women's football in the country," she concluded.