Banyana through to Wafcon quarterfinal

Banyana Banyana celebrate during a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon)

Defending Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champions, South Africa (Banyana Banyana) have secured a quarterfinal berth at this year’s tournament in Morocco.

However, they still have a lot to play for in their last Group C match against Mali this evening.

Banyana Banyana want to finish top of Group C so they remain in Oudja, which has been their base for the group stage.

Banyana and Mali are level on four points after two matches in Group C, with a win and a draw each.

The South Africans were not happy with their draw against Tanzania on Friday evening.

Finishing at the top of Group C will also mean Banyana will avoid playing Algeria, who finished second in Group B in the quarterfinals.

The team will instead play Senegal, who will qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

Banyana Coach Desiree Ellis says going into the playoffs with another win under their belts will also give them the momentum and boost their confidence.

Ellis says they will go all out for a win. “We wanna finish top, we also wanna give ourselves momentum after drawing with Tanzania by getting a win. Finishing on top will give us an advantage of continuing to play our quarter-final in the same venue to avoid being distracted, we don’t wanna move.”

The last time Banyana played Mali was in the 2018 edition of the tournament, a match they won 2-0.

Ellis says, “When you win, you also have that momentum, you have that confidence, you have that all going for you and we wanna win all our games, but again, moving would be a huge disruption.”

Banyana’s match against Mali will kick off at 9 pm and will be broadcast live on SABC 3.