The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana begin the defence of their CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title with a battle against their counterparts from Burkina Faso.
The clash will take place on Thursday, 30 November 2023 at a neutral venue, Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro in Cote d’Ivoire due to the host nation (Burkina Faso) not having adequate facilities.
Kick-off is 18h00 South African time.
The African Champions will be hoping to continue from where they left off in their last match when they defeated DR Congo 2-0 in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifiers.
Banyana Banyana and Burkina Faso have met once before, back in 2017 (22 October), with Desiree Ellis’ charges emerging triumphant 4-0 in an international friendly.
South Africa got a bye in the previous round but the Burkinabe were in action against Eswatini winning both legs 3-2 away and 3-0 at home for a 6-2 aggregate victory.
After getting a taste of what the WAFCON is like, the West Africans will be looking to give Banyana Banyana a torrid time so they can return for their second appearance at the tournament.
They made their debut in 2022, but couldn’t get out of their group where they lost by the same score line – 1-0 – to both Morocco and Senegal, before holding Uganda to a 2-all draw.
Burkina Faso finished in third place with one point in Group B, ahead of Uganda but behind Morocco and Senegal.
Despite having to endure a bus drive of more than three hours from the capital Abidjan to Yamoussoukro, Ellis will be confident ahead of the clash as she didn’t make too many changes to the squad that played last month.
Also, the African Champions will be inspired by the desire to return to the tournament to defend their title.
In terms of rankings, Burkina Faso are 21 places behind South Africa on the continent as they sit 23rd compared to Banyana Banyana’s second spot. The gap is even bigger in the world rankings, with the West Africans lying 139th and Desiree Ellis’ charges 45th.
The return leg for this clash will be played on Monday, 4 December 2023 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Kickoff is at 15h00.
In this match, the curtain will come down on Janine van Wyk’s illustrious and successful football career in the national team where she spent 18 years.
The long-serving defender will hang up her boots after the final match of the year for Banyana Banyana, and will become the most-capped African footballer – female or male – with 185 caps, breaking a long-standing record of 11 years held by Egyptian, Ahmed Hassan.
Van Wyk made her debut in 2005.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID vs BURKINA FASO:
ANDILE DLAMINI – GOALKEEPER:
“I am back in a country that I’m familiar with because we played the CAF Women’s Champions League here. But it’s a different task now, playing for the national team and it’s the WAFCON qualifiers. Our mentality is on a 100 percent because we want to qualify for WAFCON, we are the defending champions and I believe that for us to win this game it’s going to give us an upper hand when we go back home because we also don’t want pressure when we go back home. We want to play for the fans because it’s our last game of the year as well and we want to make everyone happy and proud so it’s very important that we don’t underestimate our opponents, but we make sure that we do our best so that on the day we are very happy.”
THEMBI KGATLANA – FORWARD:
“We are higher ranked than them, in football it doesn’t mean much but it should give us confidence going into the game – we are the African Champions, and we need to start this journey now to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and start strong. I said to the team that everyone is coming for us, we just need to be level-headed, play the way we play because the biggest goal is to defend our title next year Morocco. We have to get points and better points for us to go back home where we are comfortable, where we understand the settings and play better.”
AMOGELANG MOTAU – MIDFIELDER:
“The atmosphere has been amazing with the girls, but you know traveling here has been a journey. I mean we had to adjust to so many things the traveling and the weather but being African Champs, we know how important this game is coming up I think it’s important for us to win this game in order for us to go and defend our title. This is our last game of the year I think it will give us a moral boost if we win this game going into the Olympic qualifiers and I think we need it as a team as well, but as I told you we came into this team and there’s a winning mentality and I think as the ones that are coming into the team, we want to keep that up as well. We know that with teams in Africa most of the time they games are like very physical and that’s what we’re expecting, just a tough game.”
NOKO MATLOU – DEFENDER:
“Happy to be back after missing the friendlies against the USA and the Olympic qualifiers, just feels so good to be back training with the team. It’s an exciting match in prospect, we know what we need to do playing away, it is important to do well so things will be easier at home. We need all the support we can get so we can qualify and go back to the WAFCON.”
By Matlhomola Morake
