Banyana Banyana, having kicked off their campaign with an impressive 2-0 victory over Ghana, will aim to secure their spot in the second round of the 2025 Women’s African Cup of Nations tournament when they take on Tanzania tonight.
The game will be played at the Stade d’Honneur in Oujda at 9pm.
SA and Tanzania come into this fixture on the back of contrasting results — with Desiree Ellis’ team defeating Ghana 2-0 on Monday, while Tanzania lost 1-0 to Mali in the other Group C clash played on the same day.
Twiga Stars desperate for a win
It has been 17 months since South Africa faced the East Africans, where Banyana won at home and away (0-3, 1-0) in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifiers in Dar es Salaam and Mbombela, respectively.
But Ellis says that is all in the past, as the Twiga Stars are desperate for victory to stay alive in the tournament.
Victory will see South Africa move a step closer to qualifying for the knockout stages.
“Obviously, we want to get a win to cement our place in the second round. The last group stage match will determine who goes top, but we have seen in the matches over the last couple of days that there are no easy games,” Ellis said.
“We have played Tanzania before, but that goes out of the window; it means nothing. We also know that they need to win to stay in the competition, so we need to make sure that we don’t concede because we are going to create opportunities and then take those opportunities.”
Tanzania expected to fight hard
She continued: “We need to be a lot more clinical in the attacking third when we are there. We had a couple of chances against Ghana that could have sealed the game, and they hit the crossbar after that.
“We need to focus more on what we must do to get those things right.”
Fullback and winger Lebogang Ramalepe, one of Banyana’s co-captains, knows a lot about Tanzania and expects a difficult match.
“To be honest, it’s going to be a tough one; we have played them before. What Tanzania needs in this competition is a win to keep them in the run and help them out of the group stage,” said Ramalepe.
“As a team, we just need to stick to our game plan. I have played against them while at Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in the Champions League, so it’s going to be a tough one. We know each other; it’s like we are friends, but we are not friends.”
