Janine van Wyk: South Africa captain on eating Parc des Princes turf and China World Cup heartbreak

Janine van Wyk has recalled how she stunned her South Africa team-mates by eating a piece of the Parc des Princes pitch before Banyana Banyana’s narrow World Cup defeat by China in 2019, in a moment she says summed up the emotion of leading her country on the global stage.

The defender was captaining South Africa at their first Women’s World Cup and describes the group’s trip to Paris – and a fiercely contested 1-0 loss to China – in an extract from her book, 185: The Janine van Wyk Story, written with Firdose Moonda.

After travelling to the French capital ahead of their second group game, South Africa swapped into a smaller hotel and settled into a strict, repetitive routine around late-evening training sessions, all staged at 20:00.

Under tight off-field regulations, players were largely confined to their rooms during the day, with team management unwilling to let them explore on their own. Any sightseeing had to be undertaken together as a squad.

One organised outing took them to the Eiffel Tower, but even that visit came with firm instructions on where they were allowed to go and how long they could stay.

Van Wyk says she found herself torn between wanting more freedom and recognising the privilege of playing international football and travelling the world, aware that many others would never get the same chance.

Most days followed the same pattern of breakfast, rest or calls home, lunch, evening training, dinner and a team meeting, often ending around 01:00. Her only break from that schedule in Paris came when her uncle Mike, aunt Kim and family friends, who had travelled from the United States to support Banyana Banyana, visited her at the hotel – a reminder, she says, of her desire to give them “something to cheer for” against China.

Parc des Princes ‘pilgrimage’

Van Wyk describes Parc des Princes as “a site of pilgrimage” for serious football fans: France’s biggest stadium, home of Paris Saint-Germain and former stage for stars such as Ronaldinho and Gianluigi Buffon.

For a South African side with limited chances to play in World Cup venues, running out at one of the most famous grounds in the game felt especially significant.

The importance of the moment prompted an uncharacteristic act from the captain as the team stepped onto the pitch for training.

Van Wyk re-enacted Marcus Rashford’s decisive penalty for Manchester United against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League – the stoppage-time spot-kick that knocked PSG out of the competition at Parc des Princes – drawing laughter from her team-mates.

She then took things a step further, bending down, tearing up a handful of grass and putting it in her mouth.

“I even got some stuck in my teeth,” she recalls, adding that her team-mates were in disbelief and wanted to know what she had been thinking. Van Wyk still struggles to fully explain it, but jokes that not many people can say they have eaten part of the Parc des Princes pitch.

Battling China in Paris

Once the laughter subsided, focus turned to a game South Africa had targeted as their best chance of a group-stage victory.

China, ranked 16th in the world at the time, were outside the top 10 just as South Africa were, and Banyana Banyana believed they had useful insight from facing the same opponents at the 2016 Olympic Games. They also felt they had made significant progress since that tournament.

Forward Thembi Kgatlana told the squad before kick-off that other teams were struggling to “figure us out” tactically and urged them to exploit that uncertainty.

The match at Parc des Princes began slowly, but Kgatlana had a clear chance after around half an hour, only to drag her shot wide.

China struck just before the break, capitalising on a lapse in concentration. A high ball into the South African box bounced off Li Ying’s knee and into the net, and the Asian side almost doubled their lead moments later.

Van Wyk says the near miss jolted South Africa “awake”, and they emerged for the second half with a more aggressive, nothing-to-lose approach, pushing higher up the pitch in search of an equaliser.

Despite sustained pressure and a more attacking display, Banyana Banyana could not find a way through and the match finished 1-0 to China.

Van Wyk insists she did not feel they had underperformed and believes South Africa made their opponents “work for their win”.

Pride on a famous stage – but pain back home

In the dressing room and on the pitch after full-time, Van Wyk told her team-mates they could leave the Parc des Princes “with our heads held high”, proud of their effort and resilience.

She says she cannot recall another defeat in her career that left her feeling so positive about a performance.

Coach Desiree Ellis shared that view, telling the players they had shown South Africa were not at the World Cup merely to “make up numbers”, but were capable of competing with the world’s best.

However, that message did not entirely match the reaction they sensed from home.

The squad were aware fans were disappointed that South Africa had failed to win either of their opening matches. Van Wyk acknowledges that public opinion naturally focused on results, whereas the incremental improvements the team felt on the inside were harder for outsiders to see.

She says the players had to recognise those small steps forward themselves, even though the mood in the camp after the China game was far from celebratory.

Injury concerns before Germany

The physical toll of the match compounded the emotional strain. Van Wyk describes the contest as tough and bruising, with several players nursing fresh knocks or aggravated injuries.

She left the game with hamstring trouble and a slight groin strain, immediately worrying about whether she would recover in time for South Africa’s final group fixture against Germany in Montpellier.

Banyana Banyana had one day allocated for travel and two training days before facing the Germans, leaving the captain “desperate” to regain fitness quickly enough to play in what would be another major test at their debut World Cup.