KOPANO MONAHENG
JUST days after a humbling defeat at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu by Sasol Banyana Banyana, Algerians would want to rebound in tomorrow’s day-two clash against the homeside.
But our Banyana are ready for a good fight. Both sides are in preparations for the 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) scheduled for July 25 – 16 August this year in Morocco. Mamelodi Sundowns defender, Karabo Dhlamini is adamant the girls will do better this time around against Algerians.
“We do create chances but we don’t finish those chances. We will try create and score more goals tomorrow,” she said.
Dhlamini believes the two international friendly matches against Algeria are surely going to help them prepare well since their domestic league hasn’t started yet.
She said players to do well in wafcon, they needed game time, but she’s promising the country that come tomorrow (Friday) they will come to the party and dish out a great performance against the Les Fennes.
“The game tomorrow won’t be easy. I think Algeria did what we did, they went back and check where they did wrong. But also from our side we did the same thing. We analysed our game and we gonna fix those mistakes in training today,” added Dhlamini who was looking very excited for reaching a 50th cap as a national team defender.
Sasol Banyana Banyana South are facing Algeria in the second clash of the two-match series at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi tomorrow afternoon, and kickoff is at 15h00.
Banyana defeated Algeria 1-0. Mzansi shot stopper Kaylin Swart, said they’re ready for the match.
“I think if you could see the changes they made in the match, (on Tuesday) a lot of those players changed the game for them. So, yeah, I think it’s going to be different. I think this match is going to be very tactical, very technical, physical,” said Swart.
She said they have to come up with a good plan to overcome them yet again, even though it’s not going to be easy.
“I think the coach is obviously going to look at different combinations. We are still trying to build and, you know, transition and bring in the younger players into the fold. But the goal is the same, you know, put up a good performance, get some goals.”
Sasol Banyana Banyana are currently playing a very exciting game of football and hopefully fans come out in their numbers to support them.
Playing well and not scoring goals won’t take the team anywhere. But Swart is promising the fans more goals tomorrow.
“It’s going to be a continuation of what we did on Tuesday and just try to be better and, you know, continue to work on how many goals we can score, but also just create as much as many chances as we can, because with that, we know that if we create, we can score more.”
No one is guaranteed a place in the starting lineup, therefore players have to proof to the coach that they want to be selected for the match by showing a little bit of determination and hunger at training.
Swart said a lot of the players are now raising their hands to be picked up on a match day and that brings a lot of competition in the whole squad. But it comes down to how much you want it.
“Yes, we can’t control what the coaches select, but I think we can control what we bring to the table and how we show up. Yeah, it’s going to be tough. But I think we’ve dealt with a lot harder things in the past, but now I think it’s just the place, you know, really stepping up and wanting to show and just have that hunger to want to be in the national team,” concluded Swart.
