Holders South Africa will be looking for a second successive win as they continue the defence of their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) crown against Tanzania when the tournament in Morocco continues on Friday.
Banyana Banyana were 2-0 winners in their opening Group C match against Ghana on Monday, while Tanzania lost narrowly to Mali.
The game is being played at the Stade d'Honneur d'Oujda, where Desiree Ellis’ team kept a clean sheet, although the win was not as convincing as the scoreline suggests, and Ghana did strike the ball against the woodwork twice.
Ghana and Mali will meet earlier on Friday in the other group match at Stade Municipal de Berkane, in what is now a key clash for both teams.
The Black Queens, who have been runners-up in three past tournaments, have been backed to bounce back by their coach Lars Kim Bjorkegren, “This team has been growing a lot physically and tactically over the last month. The players are better prepared than they were before, and I’m confident we have the quality to beat any team in this group and the tournament.”
Mali, who, like Ghana, missed out on the last Wafcon, had a positive start and, with three points already, will be hoping for progress to the next stage.
“We showed immense solidarity as a team to get the result,” said Woman of the Match award winner Saratou Traore after beating Twiga Stars.
“We needed to get these three points so that we can have something ahead of our next game,” she added.
Tanzania face the prospect of elimination unless they can get something out of their meeting with South Africa and are boosted by the return of captain Opah Clement after suspension. She had to sit out against Mali after an accumulation of yellow cards in the qualifiers.
Coach Bakari Shime believes the absence of Clement, as well as star forward Clara Luvanga and Aisha Masaka, proved costly in their narrow defeat to Mali.
“It’s true we missed very key players. Unfortunately, two of them couldn’t make it to the tournament,” said Shime. Masaka was sidelined by injury and not part of the squad, while Luvanga suffered a knock in training just before the tournament kicked off.
Despite the odds, Shime praised the youthful spirit in his squad, which included several teenagers.
“We struggled in the first half, yes. But in the second half, we showed bravery, possession, and maturity beyond their years,” the coach added.
Banyana coach Ellis was happy with the win over Ghana and will know another triumph puts her side through to the knockout stages.