As they competitions at the 30^th Olympiad in London ensued on the first day,  Africa's best hopes were dashed as the Women's soccer completion got underway with the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon facing Great Britain the host going down 3 goals to nil.  The Cameroonians replaced the Up and coming starlets of Africa, Equatorial Guinea after they fell out of the Olympics due to a violation. The Lady Lionesses will now face New Zealand on Tuesday July 31^st for their next first round match and by all expectations they will not be advancing to the next round after two defeats with the first one by Brazil.

The Bayana Bayana squad of South Africa who are more seasoned and were expected to do a lot better than all the other female soccer teams from Africa also went down 3 goals to nil by the Canadians and this follows their initial defeat by the Swedes by 4 goals to 1 and they like the Cameroonians will not likely be advancing to the next round either.

Both teams will use the Olympic experience to get better and prepare for future global competitions. African countries have to take a deep look at whether they really want to compete at the global level or just want to have token representations in the international arena whenever these games come around. This is a time for introspection and taking stock of what can be done to improve women's soccer in Africa.