The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana wasted no time when they landed in Zambia and hit the ground running with their first training session upon arrival in Lusaka.
The South Africans are in the neighbouring country to face the home side in an international friendly match on Saturday, 12 February 2022.
This is a fixture that the Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis believes is key for her preparations ahead of the upcoming Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifiers against Algeria.
“Zambia has been to the Olympics so they have done extremely well. We have played each other on a few occasions and things have been very tight between us. When we wanted a match it was a no-brainer, but we would have loved to get a North African opposition to prepare, mainly because we are playing a North African team in the qualifiers,” said Ellis addressing the media in Zambia.
“But we all know the challenges of Covid and this (match) will not only help us but Zambia too because they are preparing for Namibia. We know when we play them it is not really a friendly, it becomes very competitive as we still want to win the match. Zambia are a very fantastic team and I foresee a tough contest.”
The former Banyana Banyana mentor heaped praise on their opponents for having qualified for the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, adding that it must have given them a lot of experience – which will help the country in a long run.
Ellis says the Zambia fixture is mainly to test her players before she finalises her squad that will be involved in the crucial qualifier against Algeria.
“The road to the AWCON tournament starts with this international friendly against Zambia. Our league hasn’t started yet so we wanted to make sure that the local players get some game time and match fitness. Also, we want to test the new players that we have brought with us because we need to finalise the squad going to Algeria. We have a lot of players coming in from abroad, and those that raise their hands against Zambia will definitely be added to that final squad. We want to get our cohesion and positional play going, to see how we can get ready for the next step, which is Algeria,” said Ellis.
When asked if the Southern African region could have more representation at the AWCON finals, the Cape Town-born coach said that the possibility exists. She also applauded the COSAFA Women’s Championship for the rise in women’s football.
“We don’t want to look too far ahead of ourselves, we always want to concentrate on the task at hand otherwise you lose focus. But yes, football on the COSAFA region has really improved. Zimbabwe has been to the Olympics, we (South Africa) have been to successive tournament (Olympics) and Zambia has been to the Olympics too – that says the work done in the COSAFA region, especially at the COSAFA Women’s Championship, has really helped us as countries,” concluded Ellis.
“When you look at the last COSAFA Cup the teams go to the competition much better prepared, much better organise and you have to thank the federations for putting in the work and giving opportunities. So we could have three COSAFA teams at the AWCON and that would be fantastic for the region.”
Banyana Banyana return to South Africa on Sunday to continue preparations for the Algeria clash.
They will host the North Africans on Friday, 18 February 2022 in the first leg, with the reverse fixture on Wednesday, 23 February in Algeria.
By Matlhomola Morake
