Banyana Banyana may have bowed out in the quarter-final stages of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) continental showpiece, thereby missing out on automatic qualification to the Fifa Women’s World Cup, but they can still qualify via the backdoor.
The South Africans are back in action on Thursday in Casablanca to begin the long play-offs route, where they start off with a match against Nigeria.
The team travelled to Casablanca on Sunday.
How it works
The winner between SA and the Nigerians will advance to the preliminary round of the Inter-Confederation playoffs, featuring six teams from other continents. According to ESPN, the top two in a set of predetermined fixtures will advance to the final phase – joined by four more teams who will advance straight to this round.
“Of the six teams in the final phase, three will advance to the World Cup in Brazil via victory in their single knockout matches. So, in simpler terms, this battle between losing quarter-finalists is the first of three separate challenges separating the participants from their tickets to Brazil – two of which will be single knockout fixtures and one (the preliminary phase) a more convoluted mini-tournament,” ESPN explained.
Said Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis after their disappointing loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals last Saturday:
“We wanted to go this route (World Cup) but unfortunately, it’s past now, we’re thinking already of the next game coming up. We are getting ready to prepare for that, we can’t cry over spilt milk at the moment, but I can be very proud, and I think the people back home can be very proud of the team’s performance.”
“I think many people did not give us a chance, but we showed what we are capable of. We showed what we can do. We started slowly in the tournament in getting our momentum, but tonight (Saturday) was a game that could have gone either way. They got the two chances and they scored the goals.
“Their keeper made a fantastic save towards the end, which would have taken the game into extra time. And this is what this team is all about; they never give up until the final whistle. We just ran out of minutes in the end because I felt that in the last 15 minutes they (Morocco) were tiring. I also want to congratulate Morocco for qualifying for the World Cup, but we are not out of it completely,” she added.
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- Banyana Banyana lost in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and did not qualify automatically for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
- South Africa will face Nigeria in the first phase of the Inter-Confederation playoffs starting Thursday in Casablanca.
- The winner of the South Africa vs Nigeria match will advance to a preliminary round involving six teams from other continents.
- From the final phase of the playoffs, three teams will secure qualification to the World Cup in Brazil through knockout matches.
- Banyana coach Desiree Ellis expressed pride in the team's performance despite the loss and emphasized focusing on upcoming playoff matches.
“Of the six teams in the final phase, three will advance to the World Cup in Brazil via victory in their single knockout matches. So, in simpler terms, this battle between losing quarter-finalists is the first of three separate challenges separating the participants from their tickets to Brazil - two of which will be single knockout fixtures and one (the preliminary phase) a more convoluted mini-tournament,” ESPN explained.
Said
“We wanted to go this route (World Cup) but unfortunately, it’s past now, we’re thinking already of the next game coming up. We are getting ready to prepare for that, we can’t cry over spilt milk at the moment, but I can be very proud, and I think the people back home can be very proud of the team’s performance.”
“I think many people did not give us a chance, but we showed what we are capable of. We showed what we can do. We started slowly in the tournament in getting our momentum, but tonight (Saturday) was a game that could have gone either way.
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