Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis says that now the identities of their opponents for the 2022 TotalEnergies Africa Women’s Cup of Nations have been revealed, preparations can start in earnest.
South Africa was drawn in Group C against arch rivals Nigeria, and debutants Burundi and Botswana – the latter being from the COSAFA region.
The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana will face the Super Falcons in their opening match on the 4th of July, followed by a clash against Burundi three days later (July 7).
Their will round off their group stage fixtures when they go toe to toe with Botswana on July 10.
They have to strive for a top four finish as the tournament also doubles up as a 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier.
The AWCON tournament kicks off with hosts Morocco facing Burkina Faso on July 2.
Here is what Ellis had to say about their opponents.
Burundi:
They are not here by chance, as they have earned every right to be here. We have not played them before, and we don’t know a lot of them, but we watched their matches during the qualifying campaign, and we will make sure that we get as much information as we can on them to make sure that we get a positive result because you underestimate a team at your own peril. So, you plan and prepare well for the match against them.
Botswana:
Another debutant and another team from the COSAFA region along with Zambia.
We have played them so many times and we have not lost outright to them in 90 minutes in our previous ten meetings. But we must never forget the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers when we failed to score in both matches and lost to them on a penalty shootout. Our games against them have always been very tight and very difficult and this one is going to be no different. They are preparing well (for AWCON) and recently played Zambia in a friendly. They have lined up another one on May 2 – so our game is our game against them is going to be another difficult encounter and we have to make sure that we are up for it. It will be a real battled. it will be a battle and we must plan and prepare well to get a positive result in this game.
Nigeria:
The defending champions and multiple winners.
We have played them a few times in the group stages. In 2006 we lost to them and ended at the fourth in the tournament. in 2008 we lost to them but still managed to reach final, only to lose to Equatorial Guinea. In 2010 we lost to them again and ended 3rd. In the previous tournament in the Women Africa Cup of Nations in 2018 in Ghana we beat them in the group stage but unfortunately ended as runners up to them.
They have shown that when it comes to the big tournaments that they’re up for it. And they been there so many times and know what it takes to win – they are always the team to beat. They’ve raised their levels and we must raise ours too – because the first game of the tournament is always the most important. When we play them, we must make sure that we get a positive result to start the tournament off on a good note, then that will give you confidence and momentum for the rest of the games.
So now that we finally know our opponents, we can continue with our preparations and make sure that we get our women Africa Cup of nations tournament off on a positive note
By Matlhomola Morake
