It’s been somewhat of a stop-start year for reigning African champions Banyana Banyana. 2024 was supposed to be the year that Desiree Ellis and her team went about defending their CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title before the showpiece was rescheduled to 2025.
Banyana will have to wait until next July to defend the title they won back in July 2022 due to scheduling issues surrounding the Paris Olympic Games and the involvement of two WAFCON contenders, Nigeria and Zambia.
Additionally, the women’s club football calendar was already quite congested with CAF Women’s Champions League Qualifiers and the eventual tournament that kicks off this weekend. All of this coupled with the delay caused by lengthy discussions around where to squeeze such a prestigious tournament into an already jam-packed calendar meant that an announcement was only made in June this year.
Meaning that the Banyana camp were pretty much in a state of limbo in terms of their preparations. In essence, the African footballing queens have only played four competitive matches in 2024, both of those being two-legged ties in a bid to clinch Olympic qualification. South Africa eventually missed out after a 1-0 defeat on aggregate to Nigeria but that was in April.
A pair of international friendlies against Senegal followed in June which was originally supposed to be part of their preparations for WAFCON’s original 2024 dates.
Since then, national women’s team have only taken to the field on two more occasions with a pair of friendlies against tougher, European opposition.
Last month, Banyana Banyana sharpened their tools on a mini-European tour with fixtures against Denmark and European champions England in the space of four days.
Desiree Ellis’ chargeslost out 5-0 to Denmark before a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Lionesses in a performance that earned them plaudits.
Ellis was pleased with her team’s showing against the European champions in Coventry, stating that “we look for improved performance in all areas and today we had that improved performance”.
Those matches were never going to be about the results but more for Ellis to gauge where her team is in terms of competing at the highest level against some of the world’s best.
Ellis entrusted a more inexperienced squad consisting of fringe and young players to handle their recent COSAFA Women’s Cup assignment. Allowing players to gain international experience while also potentially staking a claim for spot in the squad that will look to defend their crown in Morocco.
South Africa just missed out on winning the COSAFA Cup, losing out to Zambia 4-3 on penalties in last months competition but much like the friendly defeats to Denmark and England, Ellis has her focus firmly fixed on next year’s WAFCON. Ellis, her staff and the Banyana players are all aligned in their approach as well as their destination.
We’re preparing for WAFCON” she said after the England defeat.
From here on, Banyana’s path to defending their status as the continental queens of African football can be mapped out with next year’s tournament set to take place from 5-26 July. Ellis always seems to draw on the positives, adding that, “sometimes it doesn’t go your way because there is something bigger that we’re preparing for”.
While 2024 didn’t pan out as originally promised for Ellis and her team, there’s a lot more certainty heading into 2025 where the plans are already in motion. Banyana’s hunger for success and setting new standards of excellence knows no bounds and one thing’s for sure; they will be ready to defend their title come July next year.
