Ellis delighted with Banyana in WAFCON preparation

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Apr 10, 2025. 13:00

Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis is happy with how the team handled their friendly matches against Malawi in preparation for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Ellis believes that the two games boosted the squad depth, more especially after coming from a goal down to beat the Malawians 2-1 in the second friendly at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium on Tuesday.

“I think it [the two wins against Malawi] helped us. If you look at the players who started and the players who came off the bench, I think we have a bit more depth and that’s important [because] you can’t just have a starting XI,” Ellis said according to TimesLIVE.

“In the first game we saw [Adrielle] Mibe and [Mavis] Maicaine playing out wide and that’s a [the] depth we’ve got. Mthandi also had a good game and that helped us in adding more numbers, because I think this Wafcon is going to be a competition where we are going to need a lot of versatility and depth.”

Ellis noted the importance of having a strong bench at the WAFCON, where the South African women’s team will be working towards avoiding being the first to fail defending the title.

The next edition of the tournament will be taking place in Morocco from 5-26 July, where Banyana won the previous edition in 2022.

“We will have to have a good bench. If the number [of players to go to Wafcon] is 21 or 23, you will need versatility in your squad,” the coach continued.

“When I selected Gabby [Gabriela Salgado], people said she was a winger — but she’s actually a wingback. Today [Tuesday], playing a fullback, I thought she did well and now there’s a bit more depth in that position. There’s also a little bit more depth at centre back.”