WAFCON good platform for Ellis to test Banyana’s future prospects – Dludlu

Photo Credit – Banyana Banyana.

Former Banyana Banyana captain Simphiwe Dludlu has challenged coach Desiree Ellis to use the upcoming Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco as a platform to test up-and-coming players for the women’s national team.

On Monday, Ellis named the final 26-player Banyana squad, retaining 14 players from the team that won the previous Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in 2022. Banyana will depart for Morocco on Tuesday ahead of the tournament, which runs from July 5-26.

Some of the key players missing from the squad that lifted the trophy include Janine van Wyk and Noko Matlou, who have both retired, and Thembi Kgatlana. The latter declared herself unavailable while Jermaine Seoposenwe announced she will retire after the tournament in the North Africa nation.

“Thembi is the biggest player that is not in the WAFCON squad, and with Jermaine announcing her retirement as well, it brings a bit of instability,” said Dludlu, as quoted by SABC Sports. “But we are grateful that she is still going to the WAFCON. This is a better time to try different players, younger players. Yes, it is a title defence, but at least it’s not a World Cup qualifier.

“So it gives more time for the coach to put together a formidable team to face that test, and the only way you can test if your squad is good enough or balanced enough is when they go to a major tournament and fight it out.”

She added: “My observation, looking at the preliminary squad, it is a great balance of players. You can see that the coach has been going around in the Hollywoodbets Super League and everywhere shopping for players.

“We will see more balance as some of these players get more experience. You can see the direction of the team. One of the biggest tests was against Zambia. We need to try and be quicker at the back, to give us more confidence. I just hope the coach gets more friendlies before we go to the WAFCON to fine-tune the squad.”

Banyana are in Group B alongside Ghana, Tanzania and Mali, and they will play all of their first-round matches at Honneur Stadium, in the city of Oujda, starting with Ghana on July 7.