The South African senior women’s national team, Banyana Banyana, will have a nice blend of young, up-and-coming players that can be mixed with experienced campaigners.
The team was broken into two camps. One that played in a two-country tour of Europe, where they played against Denmark and England. And the other a youthful side that represented the country in the 2024 Cosafa Cup in Gqeberha. Next year, Banyana will be defending their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) title they won in Morocco in 2022.
Cosafa squad
The team that played in Cosafa did so well and only lost 4-3 via a pemalty shootout to Zambia in the final last weekend. The team in Europe, coached by Desiree Ellis, was given a 5-0 baptism of fire in their opening match against Denmark. This was at Aalborgh Stadium, before they showed slight improvement in their 2-1 loss to England.
Maud Khumalo, who was in charge of the Cosafa squad elaborated. She said: “The game was all about sustaining and keeping up with Zambia’s experience. We are trying to build a team for the future and to beef up the other team to prepare for the Afcon. I am happy for the young players; it was experience versus energy. This tournament was about character. They were a threat and showed that they could step up and play in these circumstances.
“Zambia was more physical, and our girls do not have that. We are not focusing only on attacking but also when we lose the ball. And we should be able to go for duels and win the ball against physical players,” Khumalo said.
Countering Zambia’s experience
“We were managing the girls, Zambia played two matches less than us. And we played five matches, but we were pushing them and stretching them. For some of the girls, it was their first experience. They need to work together and push each other. It is also motivation. And they showed character. We had a 16-year-old and that is good for the team.“
Of the European tour, Ellis said: “There were a lot of things we didn’t do well in the match against Denmark that we rectified against England. We were well organised in defence and believe that we created a lot of chances. This match could have gone either way. And we are extremely proud of our players because they matched England.
“We are preparing for Wafcon in 2025 and are on the right track. Yes, we have areas to work on. And we are doing so by playing matches such as these two against England and Denmark.”
Banyana will regroup during the next Fifa window this month. They will then travel to Jamaica to play two international friendly matches. These against the Reggae Girlz on November 29 and December 2.
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