Banyana Banyana stalwart Bambanani Mbane has narrated how their two-legged friendly away to Senegal is crucial after failing to qualify for the Olympics, starting towards the end of next month until the second week of August in Paris.
Banyana face Senegal, who are ranked 11th by CAF and 83rd in the world, at Thiès’ Stade Lat Dior tomorrow (7pm SA time). The two sides will battle it out again at the same venue on Tuesday with kick-off time unchanged. Banyana, who are ranked second in Africa and 51st by Fifa, couldn’t qualify for the Olympics after losing to their old nemesis Nigeria 1-0 on aggregate in the fourth round of qualifiers.
“We know that we disappointed the country by failing to qualify for the Olympics but we understand that you lose some and you win some. In football, not everything will go your way. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves for not qualifying for the Olympics forever. We are looking ahead to the future, hence the games against Senegal are important,” Mbane explained.
Three changes have been made to the initial squad. Withdrawing due to medical reasons, Hildah Magaia was replaced by Lesego Nkoane from TS Galaxy Queens, while the UWC duo of Fikile Magama and Bongeka Gamede saw their slots being taken by UJ’s Shannon Macoma and Ayesha Moosa, due to university exams.
Nkoane, Macoma and Moosa are in the Banyana camp for the first time and Mbane views the introduction of fresh faces as very important. Banyana aim to use these two games versus Senegal to prepare for Wafcon, although there’s no set date yet for the tournament Banyana won in Morocco in 2022.
“The introduction of new players is very important because in football there are injuries. As one of the senior players I am so happy to see youngsters being blooded in because that balances the squad, while it also shows that there’s a succession plan. This Senegal game is very important to the new players so that they’ll experience how it feels to play for the national team,” Mbane stated.
In April the Guardian reported that the 2024 Wafcon “was in serious danger of being cancelled because the competition has no fixed date in this year’s international match calendar”.
The article also quoted CAF spokesman Luxolo September saying, “the Women’s Afcon was scheduled for June but we have [the 2024 Paris] Olympics”.
Senegal games will help Banyana prepare for Wafcon
It is now time to think about the future, Mbane says
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Banyana Banyana stalwart Bambanani Mbane has narrated how their two-legged friendly away to Senegal is crucial after failing to qualify for the Olympics, starting towards the end of next month until the second week of August in Paris.
Banyana face Senegal, who are ranked 11th by CAF and 83rd in the world, at Thiès’ Stade Lat Dior tomorrow (7pm SA time). The two sides will battle it out again at the same venue on Tuesday with kick-off time unchanged. Banyana, who are ranked second in Africa and 51st by Fifa, couldn’t qualify for the Olympics after losing to their old nemesis Nigeria 1-0 on aggregate in the fourth round of qualifiers.
“We know that we disappointed the country by failing to qualify for the Olympics but we understand that you lose some and you win some. In football, not everything will go your way. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves for not qualifying for the Olympics forever. We are looking ahead to the future, hence the games against Senegal are important,” Mbane explained.
Three changes have been made to the initial squad. Withdrawing due to medical reasons, Hildah Magaia was replaced by Lesego Nkoane from TS Galaxy Queens, while the UWC duo of Fikile Magama and Bongeka Gamede saw their slots being taken by UJ’s Shannon Macoma and Ayesha Moosa, due to university exams.
Nkoane, Macoma and Moosa are in the Banyana camp for the first time and Mbane views the introduction of fresh faces as very important. Banyana aim to use these two games versus Senegal to prepare for Wafcon, although there’s no set date yet for the tournament Banyana won in Morocco in 2022.
“The introduction of new players is very important because in football there are injuries. As one of the senior players I am so happy to see youngsters being blooded in because that balances the squad, while it also shows that there’s a succession plan. This Senegal game is very important to the new players so that they’ll experience how it feels to play for the national team,” Mbane stated.
In April the Guardian reported that the 2024 Wafcon “was in serious danger of being cancelled because the competition has no fixed date in this year’s international match calendar”.
The article also quoted CAF spokesman Luxolo September saying, “the Women’s Afcon was scheduled for June but we have [the 2024 Paris] Olympics”.
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