Kopano Monaheng
SASOL Banyana Banyana head coach Dr Desiree Ellis is using cosafa matches to prepare for the upcoming TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2026 next month.
The WAFCON which is expected to take place from 17 March to 3 April will be held in Morocco.
SASOL Banyana Banyana were drawn against Lesotho, Angola and Malawi in group A of the Hollywoodbets cosafa women’s championship 2025 and the matches are currently underway at the Old Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo. Some matches taking place from tomorrow will be played at Seshego stadium.
Said Dr Ellis:
“Cosafa Cup is normally used to have a look at players and it doesn’t make sense to bring players with and they don’t get an opportunity to play,” she said.
“Nobody’s really played any matches yet. They’ve played friendlies, but the same as competitive matches. So for some of them was the first game against Malawi. But we obviously all will always look at refreshing the squad. But we have to get the combinations and the mix right to be able to get a positive result tomorrow.”
SASOL Banyana Banyana will play against Angola tomorrow afternoon. kickoff is at 3pm.
Ellis said it was very important to win their first match of the tournament so to avoid pressure.
She said going into the second match with a win made their work earlier.
“To get that win in the first game was also important because otherwise we’re on the back foot chasing and we know how the groups are with four, four and three in the one group with the result against a team that ends last, not counting. So it was important to get that.”
She said some players have been with the national team for some time now while others are still new.
Despite the fact that they managed to win their first game in the tournament, more work needs to be done to ensure that they convert the chances they created.
“Because in the first game we didn’t really create that many chances, but today we worked really well on certain things, and we hope that comes to show tomorrow,” Ellis told Ezimtoti News.
“I think it’s all around performance together for the team and how we build up from the back and our progression and then obviously our final third. We always go into a team, be a team that creates chances, but we need to get more shots on target to get the conversion right better.”
She knows that without senior players in her team they were always going to struggle. So she brought in young players and mixed them with a few experienced like Refiloe Jane, Karabo Dhlamini, Bambanani Mbane, Andile Dlamini and Noxolo Cesane.
Ellis said is happy with the progress in which her team is showing in the tournament.
“I think the positives that we can take from the Malawi match is the way we played, especially the intensity that we picked up in the second half and playing together, playing for one another, going the extra mile for one another and just defending together.”
ELLIS CONVINCED SASOL BANYANA BANYANA CAN CONVERT CHANCES THEY CREATED!
