01 July 2025 – Banyana Banyana midfielder Amogelang Motau says the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) champions should thread with caution in the continental tournament.
The Sasol-sponsored South Africans senior women’s national team are in Casablanca, Morocco, and have been hard at work preparing for their opening game against Ghana on Monday, 7 July in the upcoming CAF WAFCON.
In the second match they will be up against Tanzania on Friday, 11 July 2025, they will then have a date with Mali in the last fixture of the group stages on Monday, 14 July.
Although they are the defending champions, Motau says in truth they are contenders just like all the other 11 nations that will gather for the North African tournament.
“That’s the mentality they’re (technical team) trying to instill in us that we come into this tournament just like we came into the last one, we’re contenders, we take it one game at a time. The focus is on ourselves, the analysis team will do the work that’s needed for them to inform us about the game but other than that we’re going well,” said Motau, who is also one of the three co-captains in the squad alongside Refiloe Jane and Lebohang Ramalepe.
Coach Dr Desiree Ellis’ charges have been in Morocco for almost a week and Motau says this was a masterstroke with temperatures hovering above 30 degrees Celsius.
“The mood is becoming great, we’ve been struggling a little bit with the heat, but I think we’re acclimatizing, and everyone is coming into camp, just one player short but I think we’re getting the hang of it. Our rhythm is getting up even today the session had to be cut a little bit because of the weather but I think again we’re acclimatizing and we’re getting there,” she added.
All South Africa’s group stage matches will take place at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, where Banyana Banyana will have their base camp.
South African Football: The 2020/2021 season saw the introduction of a new league format for women’s football.
Mosquit-No
Rugby is also a very popular sport in South Africa and their national team, the Springboks, has performed particularly well in the international stage taking the 1995, 2007 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. There is also a fair amount of world-class Rugby players from South Africa that includes Bryan Habana, Danie Craven, Francois Pienaar, Frik du Preez, Joost van der Westhuizen, and Naas Botha. South Africa has also hosted quite a few international sports meetings like the 1996 African Cup of Nations, 2003 Cricket World Cup, as well as the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship.
Rawskills
Australia has produced many rugby legends, including David Campese, John Eales, and George Gregan. Campese, a prolific try-scorer and skilful winger, held the record for the most tries scored in test matches for Australia (64) until it was surpassed by Adam Ashley-Cooper in 2019. John Eales, known as “Nobody,” is a revered Wallabies captain who led the team to their second Rugby World Cup victory in 1999. George Gregan, a scrum-half, holds the record for the most appearances for the Wallabies with 139 caps.