Banyana’s Ramalepe predicts tough WAFCON battle against Tanzania

Banyana Banyana defender Lebogang Ramalepe has called on her teammates to trade cautiously when they take on Tanzania in their second fixture of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) at the Oujda Stadium in Morocco on Friday.

Banyana, who are defending the title they won in 2022, kicked off their Group C campaign with a 2-0 win against Ghana, while Tanzania’s Twiga Stars went down to a slim 1-0 defeat against Mali.

Looking ahead to the fixture which could guarantee Banyana a qualification ticket to the knockout stage if they secure victory, Ramalepe admitted she knows a lot about Tanzania having played against them before and she expects a difficult day at the office.

“To be honest, it’s going to be a tough one, we have played them before. What Tanzania needs in this competition is a win to keep them in the running and help them out of the group stage,” said Ramalepe as quoted by SAFA media.

“As a team we just need to stick to our game plan. I have played against them while at Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in the Champions league, so it’s going to be a tough one. We know each other, it’s like we are friends, but we are not friends.”

This is the first time Twiga Stars are returning to the WAFCON after an absence of 15 years. They last played in the 2010 edition and got eliminated in the group stages.

The last time when Banyana faced the Twiga Stars, they won the fixture home and away during the 2024 Paris Olympics Games qualifiers. They won the away game 3-0 before returning home to win the return leg 1-0.