South Africa’s senior women’s national team, Banyana Banyana, will be up against Senegal in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Saturday evening.
The defending champions will meet the West Africans in the quarter-finals at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco. Kickoff is at 21h00 South African time and live on SABC 3.
This is the second meeting between these two teams at the WAFCON, with South Africa winning 1-0 at the 2012 edition in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
However, the two teams met in two friendly games in Thiès last year, with Senegal forcing a 1-1 draw in their first encounter before South Africa won 2-0 in the second tie at the same venue.
South Africa head coach, Dr. Desiree Ellis, is undefeated in open play at the WAFCON over three editions, currently standing at 14 games, including 11 wins and three draws, while keeping eight clean sheets. This will be South Africa’s second straight quarterfinal, having edged Tunisia 1-0 at the last edition three years ago.
“We trust the process. If you underestimate a team, before you notice it, the game is gone. We have played Senegal before, but this is a completely new game, a new part of the competition,” Ellis says. “We shall continue to rely on our teamwork. Our players shine within the framework of a team. Everyone works for the other.”
Competing in their third WAFCON, Senegal are on course to writing a new chapter in their history. If Moussa Cisse’s side overcomes Banyana Banyana, they would have achieved their target, which is to better their last performance.
“This matchup is in favour of South Africa. They are the favourites, and we are the challengers. We need to throw everything at this game. If we win, it will be our first time to go to the semifinals, and we shall have done that by beating the champions of Africa,” Cisse says calmly.
South Africa has scored seven goals at this WAFCON, and all of them are by seven different players; Bambanani Mbane, Hildah Magaia, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Lebohang Ramalepe, Linda Motlhalo, Refiloe Jane, and Ronnel Donnelly.
Senegal has scored six goals at this WAFCON edition—four against the DR Congo and two against Zambia—with five of them coming in the first half. In their 10 games at the WAFCON, Senegal has never been involved in a goalless draw, and nine of those games have been decided in open play, with the only draw being the 1-1 with Zambia at the 2022 edition that went to penalties at the quarterfinal stage. The latter won 4-2 on penalties.
Ellis will look towards Banyana Banyana’s first-choice goalkeeper, Andile Dlamini, who is yet to concede a goal, having featured in two games against Ghana and Mali, making five saves in each game.
The winner of this tie will take on Nigeria in the semi-finals.
Additional information by CAF.
