After pulling out of the Cyprus Cup, Banyana Banyana will now take part in the Turkish Women’s Cup next month. The tournament will be held from 13-22 February in the resort town of Alanya, Turkey. Other confirmed teams in the tournament are hosts Turkey, Slovenia and Uzbekistan.
The Safa competitions committee sat down on Friday and Saturday at Safa House, and sneaking in Banyana in this tournament was part of the deliberations. This is a big year for Banyana and the national association is leaving no stone unturned to support the girls.
Taking part in this tournament will give the South Africans good competition ahead of the Fifa Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.
Coached by former Banyana captain Desiree Ellis, the South Africans will need as many matches so that they improve their stock ahead of the World Cup. They suffered heavy defeats against Brazil and Australia, which served as a wake-up call to the reigning African champions.
Zambia, who will also be representing Africa at the World Cup, have confirmed via their federation that their girls’ senior national team, mostly known as the Copper Queens, will take part in the same tournament.
“The Copper Queens will be using the contest to prepare for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup,” reads a media report from Zambia.
Zambia will open their campaign against hosts Turkey on February 15 at the Miracle Sport Complex before entertaining Slovenia three days later at the same venue.
The tournament is being played on a round-robin basis and the Copper Queens will play their third and final match against Uzbekistan on February 21 at the Miracle Sports Complex.
Ellis declined to comment and said until it was announced by Safa, she could not make any comment on the matter.
Safa’s head of competitions Mzwandile Maforvane and CEO Tebogo Motlanthe were not available to elaborate further on Banyana’s plans.
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