South African President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement of support to Banyana Banyana forward Gabriela Salgado following the horror injury she sustained in Tuesday's Women's Africa Cup of Nations semifinal against Nigeria.
The South Africa Football Association confirmed on Wednesday that the forward had undergone successful surgery to address a "fracture of the mid-shaft of her left leg" at the Mohammed VI University Hospital in Casablanca, and would be out of action for at least the rest of 2025.
"Our thoughts are with Banyana Banyana's Gabriela Salgado as we wish [her] a comfortable and speedy recovery from her traumatic injury in last night's WAFCON semifinal against a victorious Nigeria," President Ramaphosa's statement began.
"I know you're a woman of deep and public faith, Gabriela, and you're a woman of bravery and skill on the pitch. The nation wishes you well.
"Casablanca was always going to be a tough ask for our national team as Africa's defending champions and Nigeria's breakthrough in referee's optional proved this," he continued. "We are confident Banyana Banyana will regroup and return to WAFCON as future champs.
"We wish Nigeria's Super Falcons and Morocco's Atlas Lionesses well for Saturday's dream home final for the host nation."
Victorious semifinalists Nigeria also offered a statement of support for the forward, outlining that they were "profoundly saddened to learn of the serious injury" and that their "immediate focus, and [their] enduring concern is solely for her wellbeing, comfort, and recovery."
Speaking to ESPN, Banyana centurion Lebogang Ramalepe has promised to step up in her role as a senior player and help the young members of the squad bounce back after the injury, as they look forward to Friday's third-placed playoff with Ghana.
Salgado was stretchered off with a severe leg injury following an 84th-minute collision with Chinwendu Ihezuo, with Banyana's players visibly distressed and distraught after seeing Salgado's leg in an unnatural, distorted position.
At that point in the match, the reigning champions had drawn level with the Super Falcons and were in the ascendency, but still shellshocked followed Salgado's injury, they conceded late as Michelle Alozie struck a freak winner from range for the tournament favourites.
"it's going to be tough, but we have to be there for the young ones," Ramalepe told ESPN. "I think now they're going to get an opportunity to play [in the third-placed playoff against Ghana on Friday], so you just have to be there for them and make sure that you push them so that they can give their best.
"The girls showed character, they were resilient in the games, but we now have to pick ourselves up and move on to the next one.
"We have to go back to the drawing board and make sure that in the next game, we dedicate it to her."
The 33-year-old agreed with head coach Desiree Ellis that it was the injury that ultimately cost Banyana a place in Saturday's final against Morocco, with the team struggling to pick themselves up after seeing their teammate stretchered off.
"Yes, yes [it affected play], because you can tell everyone was emotional," she added. "I think at that moment, when it happened, everyone lost focus because it was something very tangible."
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Ellis has sought to give this Banyana team an extra edge in international competitions in recent years by employing mental coach Leanne Redding, a high-performance mentor specialising in working with athletes and sports personnel, to help underpin the team's growth.
"We have a mental coach, and we'll just have to come through for ourselves," Ramalepe continued. "We are disappointed and heartbroken after what happened to our teammate, but I think the mental coach will have to sit down and talk to us."
Speaking ahead of the match, Ellis had lauded the impact of Redding, and will surely require the sports psychologist to support the players as they seek to bounce back for their bronze-medal match against Ghana at the Stade Larbi Zaouli.
"We have the same mental coach we had in 2022 [when South Africa won the title], and she's really key," Ellis told ESPN. "I'm not a mental coach.
"The players can think that if they say something [to the head coach] which is not related to football then it will be a cross against their name, or they won't play football, but it's mental.
"In 2022, she was really key, and she'll be a big help here as well."
Saturday's playoff should be an opportunity for Ellis to shuffle her team and give some of the squad's younger players, including wonderkid Ronnel Donnelly, her UWC Ladies teammate Lonathemba Mhlongo and bright attacker Noxolo Cesane, who came close to scoring a late winner against the Falcons, a final chance to make their mark on the WAFCON.
"When you look at the new players that we have, the youngsters that we have, they're working really hard and they're pushing," forward Hildah Magaia told ESPN. "So yeah, we still have a bright future ahead of us."
Ramalepe agrees: "[The future] is bright, you can tell that we've come here with a different team.
"I think the [new] players [who are here] can get used to what happens with Banyana," she concluded. "So yeah, I think the future is bright for us."