{"id":40782,"date":"2026-07-27T15:49:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=40782"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:49:35","slug":"banyana-banyana-complete-prep-ahead-of-tanzania-clash-at-wafcon","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/banyana-banyana-complete-prep-ahead-of-tanzania-clash-at-wafcon\/","title":{"rendered":"Banyana Banyana complete prep ahead of Tanzania clash at WAFCON"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">The South African women\u2019s football team , Banyana Banyana has settled in Casablanca, Morocco, ahead of the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) that kicked off <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">on Sunday night<\/span><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Banyana Banyana have already had intense training sessions as they build up to their Group D encounters which feature matches against Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Banyana Banyana believe they have ticked all the boxes in their preparation process for the WAFCON tournament in Morocco. They take on for Tanzania in their opening match on Monday.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Overseas-based players such as Themba Kgatlana, Linda Motlhalo, Bongeka Gamede and Amogelang Motau joined the squad late, but coach Desiree Ellis now has the full complement at her disposal and the focus is on starting the tournament on a winning note.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cNow that the tournament is 16, there are no margins for error, last you could qualify as the best third place as well. Now it\u2019s those at the top who qualify. The first game of the tournament is very important to set the tone for the rest of the tournament,\u201d says Ellis.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Ellis has assembled a squad that blends experienced internationals with exciting young talent as they look to make another strong statement on the continental stage.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe looked at the 2022 squad we had. Players such as Amogelang Motau, Smith and Bongeka Gamede were not regulars, but they were able to come in, make a huge impact and start some games. We also looked at last year and decided to go with a blend of experience and youth. With a squad of 26 players, you have a lot of options in terms of the personnel we\u2019ve chosen,\u201d she says.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Captain Refiloe Jane, who played in her first WAFCON tournament in 2012, says every player has the ability to succeed at this level.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe\u2019ve got senior players who have been with Banyana for a long time, along with experienced international players. That blend works really well. Everyone knows what\u2019s at stake, and we\u2019re all working towards one goal. We have to bring our character and experience, and make sure the team comes first. It doesn\u2019t matter where we come from, we\u2019re playing for something bigger than ourselves,\u201d says Jane.<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Jane recently celebrated her 150th appearance for Banyana, while midfielder Linda Motlhalo is one cap away from becoming a centurion.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32000,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-40782","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Banyana Banyana have already had intense training sessions as they build up to their Group D encounters.","published_date":"","news_description":"Banyana Banyana have already had intense training sessions as they build up to their Group D encounters.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40783,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40782\/revisions\/40783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}