Banyana arrive safely in Nigeria ahead of Buhari Cup

After some delays, Banyana Banyana have landed in Nigeria ahead of the Aisha Buhari Cup to be competed by six nations in the continent.

ALSO READ: Ellis glad to have overseas-based Banyana stars for Buhari Cup

Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis says there is a lot of excitement in the South African camp.

Ellis has every single of her players she called up for the tournament available for the tournament, with the last player to report for camp being Spain-based Thembi Kgatlana, who plays for Atletico Madrid.

But, the mood in the camp seems to be on a high despite a few delays, especially with most Banyana players having not seen each other for some time.

“It was a very long trip, we had a few delays. But I’m glad that we arrived and a couple of good night sleeps will do us wonders. Thembi Kgatlana was the last one to arrive in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday). We are happy to have Refiloe Jane, whom we haven’t seen since November 2019, as well as Linda Motlhalo. So, we are really excited to have them. We are just happy that everyone is in camp, it was good to see them at the breakfast table this morning,” said Ellis.

“Everybody is excited with all the players that have come in, players who haven’t seen each other for quite some time, especially the overseas based players. It was really good to see the smiling eyes under the masks.”

The tournament is set to start on Wednesday, but Banyana begin their campaign on Thursday, with a clash against Ghana  at Mabolaji Johnson Arena.

“But we are really looking forward to it (the tournament). We will have our first training session today to get ready for our first game against Ghana on the 17^th.”

Banyana will play their last group match against the hosts on 21 September. Other teams in the tournament are Mali, Cameroon and Morocco.