By REGINALD KANYANE
13 July 2025 – Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis said she is looking to finish top of Group C in the 2024 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after the defending champions qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament without kicking a ball, and with a match to spare. The South African senior women’s national team progressed to the next round, along with Mali, after the completion of the round robin stages in Group A, with Morocco beating Senegal 1-0 and Zambia triumphant over DR Congo by the same scoreline.
Dr Ellis’ charges currently lead their group on goal difference as they are level with Mali on four points each.
The two countries face off on 14 July 2025 at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco in a battle for top spot in the group. Banyana Banyana need only a draw or a win to retain their position ahead of the quarterfinals.
“We can get a point, but I think to play for a point is very dangerous. As long as I can remember, when we needed a draw, we’ve never gone to play for a point because you get caught, I’ve seen it happen to big teams.
“I don’t know what year it was but Benny McCarthy at Porto, Man United needing a draw and losing it right at the end and so we’re not that kind of team that will take it out of our hands,” said Ellis.
She further said they will ensure what they (Mali) are going to do, obviously they will see when the game starts how they set up whether they sit deep or whether they come. Ellis added that they have it in their hands to top the group, so they want to make sure that they win the game.
“This will be the second time the two nations meet, with the previous match ending in a 2-0 victory for South Africa in this same competition back in 2018 in Ghana in the semi-finals. Both sides have travelled a similar path in the 2024 edition so far – a win and a draw each and conceded one goal apiece.
“The last time we played Mali was 2018 where we actually wanted to go to the next stage, and what we know about them is that they are a typical African team – very physical, and they have a key player in their striker. But we have a good analysis team that is briefing us on that, and we know that it’s going to be a tough game,” she said.
Banyana Banyana co-captain Amogelang Motau said as they have seen with the tournament, every team has gotten better and that’s what they love to see for women’s football – the competitiveness going up and for them as players and individually, it can only make us better. Motau said they also have their strengths that they are planning to use against them, so the goal is to get positive results, and she think they will do that.
In their recent matches in this tournament, South Africa defeated Ghana and played to a 1-1 draw against Tanzania, while Mali overpowered Tanzania 1-0 and shared the spoils with Ghana 1-1.
“Tanzania and South Africa play similar football, we beat Tanzania in our first match now we are facing South Africa, a team we know very well and we think are beatable.
“But then again, games like these bring a different dimension but we have our own way of doing things and we will try and employ a different strategy and once the game starts you never know what will happen,” said Mali coach Mohamed Saloum ‘Housseï’.
Meanwhile, kick-off between the African Champions and Mali is at 9pm South African time (8pm local time in Morocco).
The Guardian 