With just four months remaining until the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) takes centre stage in Morocco, coach Desiree Ellis and her Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana are hard at work preparing for their title defence.
Banyana were locked in a double-header against Lesotho recently in the first two of a possible six friendly matches before the Wafcon in June.
It was a much younger and unfamiliar side that Ellis selected during their 1-0 and 2-0 wins over neighbours Lesotho, with the aim of bolstering the squad with a new crop of players.
After a much improved and more convincing display in the second game on Tuesday at the University of Johannesburg, Ellis said the exercise was worth it but admitted there was still a lot of room for improvement.
“I think this was a worthy exercise because when I spoke to the players, the first thing they said was that the intensity was tough and not as easy as what it looks [like] from the outside,” Ellis said.
“So, we wanted to give them a taste of what it is [like] to be in the national team so that if and when they do come back, it’s not a shock [to them].
“They will know that they need to work and that when the more experienced players come in, the level is going to be even higher, so they must get ready for that moment.”
In recent months, Ellis had an injury crisis with some of key Banyana stars such as Refiloe Jane, Bambanani Mbane, Wendy Shongwe, Hildah Magaia, Karabo Dhlamini, and Nthabiseng Majiya, among the casualties.
“We had problems in November last year and the previous year [2023] when we never had enough players due to injury,” Ellis said.
“There are still players recovering from injury. So, we need to make sure that we have players to fill those gaps. Now we know that whatever happens, we have this bigger pool of players to choose from.”
Based on the youngsters’ display in the two matches against Lesotho, the coach concluded that there is reason to hope that Banyana will achieve their
mission to be ready heading into the Wafcon finals.
