Banyana Banyana captain Janine van Wyk is edging closer to setting a new record as the most capped footballer on the continent.
The veteran Banyana and JVW centre-back got her first start of the 2022 AWCON as Banyana secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over a defensive Botswana side in the last game of the group fixtures.
The 35-year-old had until then, been an unused sub in the first two games against Nigeria and Burundi respectively.
With 181 appearances so far, van Wyk is already the most capped female player on the continent. Four more appearances will see her become the most capped player in Africa - a record currently held by Egyptian Ahmed Hassan who made 184 appearances for The Pharaohs before his retirement in 2012.
Van Wyk made her debut for Banyana in 2005 against Nigeria in the African Women's Championship. She was voted 2011 Cosafa Player of the tournament and was part of the South African 2012 Olympic squad, as well as the 2019 World Cup debuting squad.
She also was nominated for the 2016 CAF-Glo Awards Womens' Player of the Year and the 2018 CAF Women's African Player of the Year award which eventually went to her teammate, Thembi Kgatlana.
Both van Wyk and Kgatlana are currently representing the country at the AWCON in Morocco, where Banyana have completed a 100% win rate and finished top of Group C having already qualified for the quarter-finals.
The next stop for Banyana is a clash against Tunisia who finished third in Group B, with only one win from three group stage matches.
Victory over Tunisia will guarantee Banyana a spot in the Semi-finals of the competition, and more significantly, a win would earn Banyana a tucket to next year's Australia-New Zealand World Cup.
The quarter-final encounter is scheduled for 21:00 on Thursday.