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Banyana Banyana and Bafana Bafana play in a double header in Phokeng

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BY Obakeng Maje

The South African Senior Women’s National Team (Banyana Banyana) will face Nigeria in an international friendly match that will be part of a double-header with Bafana Bafana.

Banyana Banyana will take on their long-time rivals on Sunday, 3 June 2012 at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng near Rustenburg with a 19h00 kickoff – just after Bafana Bafana have played Ethiopia in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the same venue. Kickoff for the first match is 15h00.

The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana squad returned home on Sunday (27 May) from Zambia where they defeated the host nation by four goals to one (4-1) in an African Women’s Championship qualifier played on Saturday (26 May).

The South Africans are scheduled to travel to Rustenburg on Tuesday (29 May) to set up camp ahead of the clash with Nigeria.

Head coach of the Banyana Banyana squad, Joseph Mkhonza will be looking to gauge the strength of his charges against the competitive West Africans as part of the plan to prepare efficiently for the 2012 London Olympics games in July.

Having won two back to back matches – against Tanzania (5-2) and Zambia (4-1) – the South Africans’ confidence has sky-rocketed and they are eagerly awaiting the clash against Nigeria.

“We have come a long way with the matches we’ve played so far but I still believe we need stronger opposition as a build-up to the Olympics. The Nigerians are the African champions so there are still lessons to be learnt. I would like to see the girls play the way they did in Cyprus. I was highly impressed and would like to see a similar style of play when we play this weekend,” said Mkhonza 

Banyana Banyana will be rejoined by six players – Jermaine Seoposenwe, Rachael Sebati, Andile Dlamini, Refiloe Jane, Leah Sethunya and Nomvula Kgoale – who did not accompany the 18 that travelled to Zambia.

“I have not selected the final squad for the Olympics as yet so I will always call up players with the best playing potential as a means of selecting a final good squad of eighteen players as we near the Olympics. The support we receive from SAFA and Sasol has helped us a great deal with the training camps we’ve held thus far as we position ourselves to compete against the world’s best opposition in London,” concluded Mkhonza.

BY Obakeng Maje…


BY Obakeng Maje

South Africa Under-20 coach Solly Luvhengo admits there is room for improvement from his side as they prepare to face Nigeria in their final Group A match in the 8-Nation tournament taking place in Cape Town.

Amajita meet Nigeria at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday (29 May) evening. Kick off is at 18H00.

They go into the game on the back of a 2-0 win over Ghana, which had followed the disappointment of a 3-1 opening loss to Argentina.

A draw against the Flying Eagles could be enough to see Amajita advance to the semi-finals, unless Ghana manages to beat Argentina when those two countries clash later in the evening (20H30 kick off, also at Cape Town Stadium.)

The South African side has played some excellent football in both of their games, with the 3-1 score-line to Argentina not a true reflection of the game, a fact to which Argentine coach Marcello Trobbiani has openly admitted.

There were many positives from the win over the Black Satellites, including the clean sheet, another man-of-the-match performance from Snethemba Ngidi, and a second goal in two games for striker Thabani Mthembu.
But Amajita’s goals to chances ratio has not been as good as it should be: their dominance in terms of build-up play and clear-cut opportunities created has unfortunately not transcended into as many goals as it should have, a fact which Luvhengo is very much aware of. 

“We worked very hard to create chances against Ghana, which is not an easy thing to do. When you get a chance and don’t finish, it’s not acceptable. It can come back to haunt you if the opponents get one chance and score.

“We are creating chances but don’t stab them into the net. Look at Argentina in our first game – they got three chances and scored three goals. Against Ghana we had seven, eight chances, but only scored twice.

“And these were from set pieces, not open play – it is a factor which I am aware of and which concerns us.

“We need to calm down after the Ghana win. It’s a good win, but it’s behind us now. Nigeria are a very good team, very strong and from nothing they can get a goal – that’s the difference: from nothing they can score,” said Luvhengo.
Nigeria is yet to pick up a point in the tournament. But should they beat South Africa, and if Ghana loses to Argentina, the Flying Eagles still have the possibility of going through to the semi-finals on goal difference.

Hence, it’s all to play for, and Nigeria coach John Obuh is hoping his players can lift themselves to a better performance after back to back defeats.

“I expected more of my players in the Argentina game, but we were too worried and made too many mistakes.

“We will give it a very good fight against South Africa. I was very surprised to see them beating Ghana after Ghana had put up such a wonderful performance against us.

“South Africa beating Ghana has put us under a lot of pressure, but there is still hope for us and we are going to go out there and give everything we have,” he said.

The second game of the evening promises to be every bit as entertaining as the first. 
Even with six points from two games, Argentina is not guaranteed a place in the semi-final: should they lose to Ghana and if South Africa beat Nigeria, three teams will finish on six points and it will come down to goal difference.

Argentina’s play has been solid if unspectacular – they have gone about their game in a businesslike fashion, but there is the sense that the South Americans could lift things to another level when needed.

Ghana on the other hand have been inconsistent. The thrill of their opening day win over Nigeria subsided with a less energetic performance in a 2-0 loss to Amajita; it could be a question of which Black Satellite unit shows up for the crunch game with Argentina.
One thing is for certain – Group A has developed as expected into the group of death and Tuesday night promises to be high on drama and excitement.