Banyana ready for ‘must-win’ rematch with DRC

Banyana Banyana will once again battle it out with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a 2024 Caf Olympics qualifier with the winner to proceed to the next round of the qualification campaign.

Banyana host the DRC at the Orlando Stadium on Monday, a week after they played to an intense 1-1 draw in Kinshasa.

The Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions will be looking to seal the tie at home, as they aim to compete at the Olympics for the third time, having made it to the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 edition in Rio, Brazil.

Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says all the players are ready for the game, despite veteran defender Janine van Wyk leaving the camp after not being played in the first leg against the DRC.

The first leg tie against the Congolese was meant to see Van Wyk reach 184 international caps, which would have equalled the continent’s record, for a male or female, held by Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan. She could then have broken the record in Monday’s game but now it looks unlikely she will achieve this, unless she comes out of retirement.

“I thought our final training session ahead of the game tomorrow (Monday) went really well with everybody available for training and getting the feel of the field. It’s a familiar ground that we played in before,” said Ellis.

‘We have to take charge’

“It’s a game that we must win, a game that we must start well and take away from the opponent because they have shown that they are a very resilient team. They have shown that they can also take the game. But we are playing at home and we have to take charge. We have to make sure that control every moment and we are clinical in front of goal and do not concede.”

The DRC gave Banyana a tough time in the first leg, but Ellis is happy that some of her regular players are available to help the team.  

“It’s going to be a difficult game and they have shown their quality. We have additions (players) since the last one (game). Jermaine Seoposenwe is coming in, and Faith Nokuthula and Linda Motlhalo being available adds a lot to our team.”