The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana squad is back at training in preparation for the crucial third round 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifiers against Tanzania scheduled to be played on Friday, 23 February in Dar es Salaam, while the return fixture will take place four days later (Tuesday, 27 February) at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga.
The two matches will kick off at 15h00 and 19h30 South African time respectively.
With the South African elite women’s league, the Hollywoodbets Super League, only kicking off in March, Banyana Banyana Head Coach Desiree Ellis’ main concern is the match fitness of her players.
Only the overseas-based contingent has seen some game time, while those plying their trade in South Africa have only been involved in pre-season training, which included a few practice matches.
With just over a week before the match, the focus now is on bridging the gap.
“The players that are coming in from abroad are in-season and that’s a big plus for us, so we’re trying to bridge that gap in terms of where the conditioning is. But we also have to manage the players because we have to make sure that we are fresh, we have to make sure that we don’t overload them, and that’s been a difficult job because you also want to get them playing,” Ellis told SAFA.net.
“Some of them have played maybe one game, some have played two halves of two games so there’s been some minutes, but we need more minutes. I think that’s going to be the easiest way for us to get to where we need to be.”
What makes South Africa’s plan all the more important is that in stark contrast to the Hollywoodbets Super League, the women’s football league season in Tanzania is on-going and they may prove to be difficult to deal with as they are already far ahead with match fitness.
“We want to make sure that defensively we are organized because we’re playing a country that is currently in-season. They have played about eight or nine games in the league so far already, so you know it’s not going to be easy, but we have to do what we have to do,” added the Banyana Banyana mentor.
South Africa and Tanzania have met five times between 2010 and 2014, with the African Champions claiming victory in all the games.
Banyana Banyana have 32 players in their training camp – the list will be trimmed down to 23 and will be announced on Monday, 19 February.
By Matlhomola Morake
