South Africa forward Ode Fulutudilu believes that she is still worthy of a place in the Banyana Banyana squad at the FIFA Women’s World Cup later this year, so to prove it she left Fleury 91 in France for Spain‘s struggling Real Betis.
The 33-year-old, who was born in Kinshasa in the DRC and arrived in South Africa at the age of four after fleeing from civil war, represented South Africa in their Women’s World Cup debut in 2019. However, she was left out of the squad for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which saw Banyana win the competition for the first time.
Fulutudilu revealed that Banyana coach Desiree Ellis told her that in order to earn a recall, she would have to play and score regularly – a task which was made difficult at Fleury by the stiff competition for a place in the Champions League-chasing side.
“In making the decision of whether to stay or leave, I did speak to Desiree just to find out whereabouts I was [in the selection order] and what my chances were. What I got [out] of that conversation is that I needed to be in an environment where I was playing and scoring regularly,” Fulutudilu told ESPN.
“Obviously, that does not guarantee me [a place]. The bar for me to get into the national team is much higher than for a lot of players and I’ve accepted that. That’s why I made the sacrifice to come to Spain and hopefully have more impact in the assisting and scoring chart, and be so good that it would be hard to be ignored.”
Fulutudilu was at pains to point out that she was not bitter about not fitting into Ellis’ plans as seamlessly as she would like, but rather determined to control what she could – her strike rate in Spain.
She added: “Every single coach, wherever you play, they do have their preference of players. I happen to fall outside of that preference, which is unfortunate, but it’s life – I get it. Once you fall out of that preference, you have to do a little bit more than others.”
At relegation-threatened Real Betis, she feels minutes will be easier to come by than at Fleury, but it was difficult for her to leave behind a team environment she thoroughly enjoyed.
The forward said: “Because [Fleury] is such a small club, everyone knows each other and it’s a really close-knit community. For example, after games or even at half-time, the owner comes down and greets everyone and gives us motivation.
“The girls were really supportive and friendly… and the coach was a really lovely guy. The coaching staff was a bunch of really nice men, so the overall environment was a really perfect environment to be in.
“When you’ve been playing for a long time and you finally find the place that you fit perfectly, it’s so hard to find that environment where you are understood and appreciated not just because of what you bring the field… It’s hard to find an environment where you are valued as a person first and then as a player.”
Fulutudilu admitted that at Betis, where she made her debut in a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of runaway league leaders Barcelona, and subsequently started a 1-0 loss to Valencia, the dressing room environment is not quite as conducive to success as it could be.
However, she is confident that they are closer to coming together than their league position (14th out of 16 teams and one position above the relegation zone) suggests.
“Obviously, we’re in quite a difficult position right now, but this is a really big club. I hope that I’ll be able to help the club get out of this position,” said Fulutudilu, who had a previous stint in Spain with Málaga.
“The girls do seem really lovely. It does seem like a really lovely bunch of girls; they seem really sweet, really welcoming, quite friendly. Obviously, no environment is perfect and there is a reason why we the club is in this position in the first place. It’s not just on the field, but it’s always small things that are contributing to any particular club to be in the position that they are, which is the case right now.
“Hopefully, as a club and as a team, we’ll be able to control what we can and start bringing in the results against teams that we’re supposed to get the results from and just build brick by brick, game by game, and just go from there.
“I believe when [Betis] played Real Sociedad and Atlético, both those games – they drew against Real Sociedad, and against Atlético, they were winning 1-0 [until the 90th minute] and ended up losing 2-1, so I think the club has the talent to compete against anyone besides Barcelona. I mean, even against Barcelona, we were only losing 2-0 at half-time. It just all fell apart in the second half.
“The team does compete against the majority of the teams that we do play against. It’s obviously just the final pieces – keeping the door closed at the back and putting a few more [goals in the net] in front.”
Fulutudilu is fired up for the task ahead, but she admitted that if her plan to rescue Betis and break back into the Banyana fold does not go according to plan, she is uncertain whether or not she will have enough left in the tank to continue her career.
“I do not have many years left in me unfortunately. I will have to reassess my career at the end of this season. Obviously, it all depends on the World Cup and it depends on how these next few months go. Those things will play a big part in whether or not I want to keep going,” she said.
“Otherwise, if nothing goes to plan, I might just call it a day, because I’m tired. I can only keep going for so long.”
However, she is not satisfied quite yet. She wants to represent her country again, not just for the sake of it but to be part of a team which makes the knockout rounds of the World Cup. In order to do that this year, Banyana will have to finish in the top two of Group G, with Sweden, Italy and Argentina.
“I think that is more than possible. Last time, we almost pulled a shocker against Spain until the last 10 minutes, when everything started falling apart,” Fulutudilu said.
“South Africa has a tremendous amount of talent with a lot of players playing in a professional environment. I believe in the team, in the girls, that we have what it takes to get out of the group stages.”
The Women’s World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
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