Banyana Banyana backed to reach Wafcon quarter-finals despite difficult campaign

Banyana Banyana legends Portia Modise and Noko Matlou believe South Africa can still reach the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals, despite blaming poor preparation and a lack of support for the champions’ disappointing start in Morocco.

South Africa are bottom of Group B with one point and must beat Burkina Faso in their final group match in Casablanca tonight at 22:00 South Africa time. They also need Ivory Coast to defeat Tanzania if they are to progress to the knockout stage.

The 2022 champions have struggled to reproduce the form that carried them to their only Wafcon title to date. They have conceded four goals in their opening matches and scored only twice.

Modise, who scored more than 100 goals for Banyana Banyana, said the team’s difficulties were a consequence of how they had been treated rather than a reflection of the players’ ability.

“I am not surprised to see Banyana struggling,” Modise told Sowetan. “We’ve been talking about this for many years; Banyana lacks support of the country. Banyana don’t get exposure, and that discourages the players.

“For me, Banyana’s struggles at this Wafcon have nothing to do with performances it’s about how they have been treated,” said Modise, who scored over 100 goals for Banyana.

“They are not motivated because they lack support from Safa and the whole country. You saw what happened with Bafana when they were going to the World Cup; the country was buzzing, but that didn’t happen with Banyana.”

Modise contrasted the attention given to Bafana when they travelled to the World Cup with the lack of public backing for the women’s team.

Matlou, who played a key role in South Africa’s Wafcon triumph in Morocco four years ago, believes the squad entered this tournament without enough competitive preparation.

“What makes us struggle is that we didn’t play enough friendlies leading up to the tournament. We played our last friendly against Japan in June … I think we should have played two more just to get that momentum before the tournament,” Matlou said yesterday.

The former Banyana Banyana forward nevertheless remains confident that South Africa can produce the result they need against Burkina Faso and benefit from an Ivory Coast victory over Tanzania.

“I think we will beat Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast will win against Tanzania, so we should be okay,” Matlou said.

Modise also expects South Africa to qualify, arguing that Burkina Faso should not pose an insurmountable challenge and that Tanzania will be unable to defeat Ivory Coast.

“I have my fingers crossed that we qualify. We shouldn’t struggle to beat Burkina Faso, and Tanzania won’t beat Ivory Coast,” Modise added.

South Africa’s route to the quarter-finals therefore depends on both their own result and the outcome of the match between Ivory Coast and Tanzania. A win in Casablanca is essential if Banyana Banyana are to keep their title defence alive.