Sixth time lucky for Banyana Banyana?

Banyana Banyana are flying the flag high and proud again in the name of South African football, as they take another shot at conquering the continent in the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final this evening.

Desiree Ellis’ charges will take on hosts Morocco in front of a partisan home crowd in Rabat, seeking to finally win a competition in which they have on five previous occasions fallen at the final hurdle.

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In some sense, victory in the quarter-finals over Tunisia was a success for South Africa, in that it earned them a ticket to Australia and New Zealand next year for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.

Then again, shaking off the “always the bridesmaid” tag in the Wafcon is also something Banyana will desperately want to do – and they have more than a fighting chance against Morocco.

The hosts have been a revelation in this tournament, but had previously never made it out of the group stages at a Wafcon – and struggled to beat nine-woman Nigeria in the semis.

Banyana haven’t necessarily played at their best in this tournament, but have still won every match up to now and tournament football is often about winning when you aren’t on top form.

Any kind of win, ugly or beautiful, will do Banyana just fine this evening.

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