Banyana Banyana will not take their foot off the pedal, when they tackle neighbours Botswana in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Group C encounter in Morocco on Sunday evening. The South Africans have already qualified for the quarterfinals after they beat Nigeria and Burundi in their opening two matches.
Banyana are sitting on top of Group C table with six points in two matches, followed by Nigeria and Botswana, who are both on three points. The South Africans might be the favourites to win the match, but will not underestimate their neighbours Botswana.
“Every game is important in the group stages. In fact in this tournament, we need to stay focused. Most probably we will change a lot of things but I don’t know- that depends on the coaches because each and every game has a different approach. This is a different team and we are taking nothing away from them,”says Banyana goalkeeper, Andile Dlamini.
Banyana will be aiming to finish on top of their group. They have not won the competition despite reaching the final on five occasions.
The four top teams in the tournament, will automatically qualify for the World Cup and Banyana will also be looking to qualify for their second FIFA World Cup tournament in Australia and New Zealand next year.
“We told ourselves that we need to collect as much points so that we can play other teams and be a bit relaxed, not over relaxed but knowing that at least we have three points in the bag and we just have to fight for another three points. The aim here is just to win our games. It’s one step at a time. It doesn’t matter who we play”, says Dlamini. Report By: Vincent Sitsula
Interview with Banyana Coach Desiree Ellis 20 June 2022:
