This might be stretching the point, but it is a fact. Women’s football started two days before the  Games officially got underway and Banyana’s second game of the competition came just hours after the opening ceremony. Losing both  games saw them knocked out of the competition.

This morning the women arrive back home, a week into the Olympics. But if there is any perception they return in disgrace, it is erroneous.

Their failure to get past the first round was expected. The fact they proved competitive was a surprise. That they managed to take a point off world champions Japan was a triumph.

The gap between women’s football in Africa, still an infant in sporting terms, and the major powers is huge. A bit like the men’s game in the Seventies when Zaire were a laughing stock at the 1974 World Cup finals.

To qualify for the Olympics was a major breakthrough for Banyana Banyana but to be handed a schedule against Canada, the world’s No 7; Sweden, third at last year’s Women’s World Cup, and Japan, the best on the planet, held out the prospect of severe humiliation.  I predicted  at least an eight goal defeat to some of my colleagues in the first match last Wednesday against Sweden. A goal and three strikes against the crossbar in the first 10 minutes from the Scandinavians suggested I would not be far wrong. At 0-3 down at halftime, saw the prospect of a deluge to come from Sweden’s much vaunted attack.

But in the end Banyana suffered a credible 4-1 defeat, scoring a sensational goal and gaining plenty of confidence.

In patches in their second game against Canada, they looked the better team but ultimately were out-muscled and lost 3-0. This meant they were out of contention.

The draw earlier this week with Japan, albeit playing without some of their key stars, was a real success, something to build on for the future.

Banyana will have given the women’s game a massive fillip with the draw and will have hopefully provided role models for   youngsters to follow.

A single point might be their total tally from the London Games but the women’s national team are massive winners, given the odds stacked against them. Now they give us cause to believe they can achieve at the African Women’s Championship in Equatorial Guinea later this year.

n The weekend’s Soccer 6 pools finally welcome back local football with the kick-off of the MTN8. In a few weeks, regular service from England, Germany, Italy and Spain also resumes.

 In their absence, there have been handsome payouts betting on matches in Brazil, Scandinavia and the US and given all the transfer movement in the pre-season build-up there is every hope competition will be tight in the coming months. I tip SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs to start the new campaign with wins.

n You can now get all the latest team news and tips for the Soccer 6 pools on Twitter. Follow @tab_soccer to improve your chances of winning big.