Sasol Banyana Banyana Head Coach Dr Desiree Ellis says the members of the team know what they have to do to stay in the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2026) currently underway in Morocco.
The South Africans senior women’s national team lost 1-2 to Tanzania in the opening match of the tournament earlier this week and will now face Ivory Coast on Friday in a fixture that could determine the fate of the 2022 African Champions. The West Africans beat Burkina Faso 4-1 in their first match of the prestigious continental women’s football showpiece.
Banyana Banyana and Ivory Coast meet at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca, kicking off at 7pm SA time.
“Another difficult game ahead of us and I don’t think any of the games in the groups are easy. Not getting a result in the first game is a situation that we find ourselves in now, but we know what we’re capable of and it’s a game where we have to get the result.
"We’ve worked on a lot of things, there’s been a lot of positivity, the energy has been good in camp and we’ve obviously analyzed the opponent the same as they have analysed us,” said Dr Ellis.
“The mood is better now in camp compared to a few days ago after the match against Tanzania. We have a group of players that have come here and know what they need to do, I think we have enough experience in the group to rub off on the younger players.
"Everybody know what needs to be done, and you don’t need to keep reminding people because they also discuss it among each other as a group of what they feel they should do and we allow that because we are a team and we trust each other.”
In the clash against Tanzania, South Africa was undone by two goals either side of the half, with defender Bambanani Mbane registering her name on the scoresheet.
Banyana Banyana players are optimistic that they will get a positive result against Ivory Coast.
“To be honest, each game is different and how you start doesn’t determine where you will end up. Of course we lost the first game and we know that we lost the first game, there are so many things we could have done better, there are so many things we want to do better as a team, as individuals, as sports people.
"We have been in similar situations in the past in other editions of WAFCON and it didn’t determine where we ended,” said Banyana Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana.
“We know that tomorrow is another game, it helps us to take it one game at a time and here we are facing our second opposition in the group and we still have the mandate, the chances are there for us to take, and tomorrow the team that wants it the most is going to take it.
"It’s not going to be about how we played the first game but about how we progress as a team in the tournament,” said Kgatlana.
This clash will potentially see Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado earn her 50th cap in a Banyana Banyana jersey, perhaps a fitting milestone after she missed out on the 2022 edition with an injury. In the next tournament (2025) she was hospitalised as she was also injured.
In the other Group B encounter, Tanzania takes on Burkina Faso at 9pm SA time.
© Safa