South Africa women’s national team head coach Desiree Ellis says the three-nation series against Botswana and Zambia will be used to determine her team’s readiness to defend the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The series, featuring all teams from the COSAFA region that have qualified for the WAFCON tournament to be hosted in Morocco in July, kicks off this afternoon in Atteridgeville.
Banyana Banyana, the WAFCON defending champions, will take on the Mares of Botswana in the opening match of the series at 15:00.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Ellis noted that both Zambia and Botswana have made significant progress in recent years.
She pointed out that Zambia comes with enough experience, having been to back-to-back Olympics.
“This will help us to see what we still need to work on. As I said, ever-improving Botswana and Zambia, who’ve been to back-to-back Olympics, they bring that level of experience. As Coach Nora mentioned, having their U17s qualify for back-to-back World Cups also adds to that. We’ll have to test where we are and what still needs refining,” Ellis said.
Nora and Malete speak ahead of the games
Botswana head coach Alex Malete said he will be using the two matches against strong opponents to measure his team’s tactical readiness for the continental stage.
“These two games come at a time when we really need them and against the two best teams in Africa. It’s all about refining the details. We had a short camp ahead of these matches, so we’ve been working on team tactics. After the games, we’ll review the videos and work on the finer details,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s head coach, Nora Hauptle, also anticipated a good test against WAFCON-bound teams.
“We look forward to facing South Africa and Botswana – all three of us are WAFCON-qualified, and this will be a good test,” she said.
The Copper Queens will open their campaign in the Three Nations Series on Saturday against Botswana before taking on South Africa next Tuesday.
All the matches will kick off at 15:00 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
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