Former head coach of South Sudan, Shilene Booysen as well as current South African U17 Women’s National Team head coach, Simphiwe Dludlu, have been confirmed as part of the additions to the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana squad ahead of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The tournament will run from 20 July to 20 August 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking from Antalya, Türkiye, where the South Africans are based for the 2023 Turkish Women’s Cup, SAFA Technical Director, Walter Steenbok, confirmed that Booysen (Technical Advisor) and Dludlu (Assistant Coach) are with the travelling party and have already started getting down to business.
“We have roped in important figures in terms coaching in South African women’s football.
Shilene has got high technical qualifications, she has also worked with the Senior Women’s National team in South Sudan and comes in as the Technical Advisor to Banyana Banyana. This works perfectly also for everyone as she was part of this team for a long time before heading to South Sudan. She is also part of the well-learned CAF Technical Study Group (TSG) with a high level of expertise in performance analysis,” said Steenbok.
“Simphiwe currently works at SAFA’s High Performance Centre in Pretoria, and is also the head coach of our U17 Women’s National team. She comes in as one of the assistant coaches (along with Thinasonke Mbuli) and also brings in her own expertise having worked with some of these players. This is a chance for Simphiwe to learn at a higher level because it is a step up for her. She is in good company as she works with highly capable people – both these additions will be of great value to the team.”
Booysen recently parted ways with the South Sudan Senior Women’s National Team as the head coach -freeing her to be part of Ellis’ bench as the Technical Advisor. She was the Performance Analyst for the team in her previous stint with Banyana Banyana – a position she also enjoyed in the USA at Houston Dash where she worked with former Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw.
Booysen has also worked with Bafana Bafana.
Dludlu stood in for Ellis at last year’s COSAFA Women’s Championships in Gqeberha where she worked alongside UJ Ladies coach Nthabeleng Dunga Modiko. The duo led a young Banyana Banyana squad to silver, narrowly losing to Zambia in the final.
During that period, Ellis and her group of regular players faced Brazil in friendly matches in Johannesburg and Durban.
A former Banyana Banyana defender and captain, Canavaro, as Dludlu is affectionately called by her peers, qualified the South African U17 Women’s National Team to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in 2018 in Uruguay.
She also works as a match analyst for the SABC.
The SAFA TD added that these are not the last appointments to be made regarding Banyana Banyana, and his role will be crucial.
“I am here to give the team support and also to assess areas where more support will be needed. I am watching the camp closely as well as the matches to make sure the team gets all the help they need, not to police anyone. I am here on oversight function, and when we return home I will compile a report where I will outline if they team needs more beefing up, more games, etc. I am looking at everything, from the program, to the technical team to the players and make recommendations where necessary,” added Steenbok.
“And the only reason I am doing this is that this is a huge project we are faced with and we don’t have enough time, so the intervention is very important. We need to improve from our 2019 showing where we scored only one goal, lost all the matches and failed to get out of the group. What is more crucial is that we also have to look ahead – we need to go a step further than in France, more so because we are bidding for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and these things have to align, and that is why this current project needs attention.”
As to whether he will do the same exercise with the other national teams, Steenbok had this to say.
“It entirely depends on the kind of project. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is a huge project and is five months away, and we needed to act fast and tick the boxes for Banyana Banyana. Having said that, there are other departments that need my immediate attention – coaching education, U23, the HPC, other national teams – so there is a lot on my plate, but it doesn’t stop me from joining them in camp and looking at matters closely, if time permits. Failing which, I may recommend other persons to do that function, because it needs to be done. The good thing is that, as I said before, after every camp I will sit down with the technical team and go over how the camp went.”
Zooming back on the Turkish Women’s Cup, the SAFA TD said that it was important that the team takes part in the tournament.
Banyana Banyana arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, with the country still picking up the pieces of a devastating earthquake that also his neighbouring Syria.
“Look there was a lot of uncertainty about our travel, but since we have been here, the focus has been on football. We had our last session today (Friday, 17 February) and it was the first time the coach had a chance to play an 11 v 11 session, which is an important component of training,” said Steenbok.
“Also, in terms of periodic planning we don’t have time. The next and only FIFA window is in April and thereafter is the start of the World Cup. Also, understand that the Hollywoodbets Super League, where we get the bulk of our players, has just started – only two rounds of matches have been played. So by coming here it was important to get the team chemistry, the physical readiness, some game time and overall team dynamics. It was unthinkable, from a strategic and sporting point of view, that we don’t miss this FIFA period.”
Three of the teams withdrew from the tournament – the hosts, Venezuela and Jordan – with the former two scheduled to play South Africa along with Uzbekistan.
But Banyana Banyana will have to settle for two matches – Uzbekistan on Saturday (18 February) and Slovenia on Tuesday (21 February).
“To be honest we are not happy that we are playing only two matches, but at the same time we understand the circumstances that led to that. Our biggest challenge, and coach Desiree will attest to that, is that the international level is high and so we need to do a lot of work before get to the World Cup, hence we have started with beefing up the team. We have to make sure that we are ready, we have to raise the bar, so yes these two matches, although not enough, will give us necessary information as to what kind of intervention is needed,” said the SAFA TD.
Steenbok concludes that the team is ready to face Uzbekistan, whom they have had a chance to study.
“We had a great reception when we arrived here and the mood in camp is very good, the girls are ready to take on Uzbekistan, especially after the high class pitches that we trained on and the exceptional organisation in place,” said Steenbok.
“The clash against Uzbekistan presents a huge opportunity for the coaches to test some of the systems and blood in combinations. We watched them play Slovenia and we learned a lot and through video sessions the technical team will be able to devise a plan of how to deal with them, we have enough information.”
By Matlhomola Morake
