Banyana to use Costa Rica game to gauge readiness for World Cup

Banyana Banyana and Mamelodi Sundowns defender Lebogang Ramalepe says they will use Saturday’s game against Costa Rica to gauge the team’s readiness for next week’s Fifa World Cup.

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Banyana have been in New Zealand for over a week now preparing for the tournament.

But, Ramalepe and the rest of the Banyana squad began their camp in South Africa prior to leaving for New Zealand, where they are based for the group stages of the competition.

The defender says everything has gone well for the team during their preparations up to this far. And right now the focus is all on getting a positive result against Costa Rica when the two teams clash at Christchurch on Saturday.

“Everyone in the team seems to look good and ready for the game against Costa Rica. It’s a game that will give us an opportunity to show that we have been working hard and we want to make the country proud. There has been a lot of work that has been done leading up to this game, the coaches have also worked tirelessly in getting us ready for the match,” said the Banyana defender.

“Costa Rica will give us a good challenge. They are also in the World Cup, so they will also be playing to show their readiness. We have to go out there and give our best in order to give us more confidence before our opening match of the tournament. But we are ready, everything has been good so far and we are all just excited and ready to give our all inside the pitch.”

Banyana have managed to shift their focus to the tournament despite the team’s debacle with the South African Football Association (Safa) regarding bonuses prior to their departure to New Zealand.

With all of that sorted thanks to the Motsepe Foundation and National Lottery’s donations (R6 million and R2 million respectively).

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Banyana will be competing at their second consecutive World Cup, with the team having featured for the first time back in 2019 in France.