6 July 2025 – Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis and co-captain Refiloe Jane say the African Champions are ready for their opening match against Ghana in the 2024 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Monday, 7 July 2025.
The clash will take place at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco. Kick-off is at 18h00 SA Time (17h00 local time in Morocco). Speaking on Sunday, 6 July 2025, Dr Ellis said they have done all they needed to do and are just waiting for the match.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis, and I’m sure they’ve also done analysis on us too, if you’re not ready now then we have a problem. We came to Morocco early to prepare, and we are now ready for the game, it’s just about using the plans tomorrow, it’s about making sure that if the one plan doesn’t work, we have another plan and another plan and another plan…. We just need to put our game plan in place and make sure that we get the result we want,” said Dr Ellis.
The three-year wait to defend the title has now arrived and Jane said the opening match will be key.
“Obviously this is the opening game of the tournament for us, it’s going to be a very difficult one. They are a completely different team, but we are prepared for them and we’re hoping that we can perform better as a team,” said Jane.
The Ghanaians return to the women’s continental competition after an absence of seven years – the last time they featured was back in 2018 when they were playing hosts.
“I’m very happy to be here, it’s a great opportunity given to the players. For some of us this is our first time playing the tournament of course and we are really grateful and happy to represent our motherland Ghana. We are just trying to showcase ourselves, so we are very happy to be here,” said Ghana goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan Findib.
For the new Ghana coach, Kim Lars Björkegren, who hails from Sweden and joined the national team earlier this year, this will be his first WAFCON. He believes they are the underdogs.
“I have coached in many countries and growing up I used to watch the men’s AFCON. I am so happy to be here and looking forward to tomorrow’s match against South Africa. People always ask me a question about pressure and if I’m nervous and those kinds of things, for me it’s very clear if you are a coach at this level, you may be a little bit nervous, but you have to control what you can control,” Björkegren said.
“As a coach, I need to show my players that they can trust me in difficult situations, and I think they do. Of course, we know that we are a little bit of an underdog or a dark horse, we are not one of the biggest favourites that people are talking about, but I know that we have the quality in this group to beat all of the teams in this tournament. I think we can have a really good chance to be successful.”
Mali and Tanzania will contest the other Group C match at the Berkane Stadium in Berkane, also on Monday.
Kickoff is at 20h00 local time (21h00 SA Time).
South African Football: The term “Absa Premiership” was used from 2008 to 2020 due to sponsorship.
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Sport Trivia: Who played against South Africa in their first official One Day International in 1991/92? Answer: India – South Africa\’s return to International Cricket saw them tour India in the 1991/92 season. The official tour consisted of 3 ODI\’s against India which were the first ever official ODIs played by South Africa. The result of the tour was a series win by India 2-1.
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Fun South African Fact: The Union Buildings in Pretoria are home to a larger than life Nelson Mandela statue.